With a powerful brand, every business will have one of the most crucial assets needed for success. For many budding entrepreneurs, developing a brand is one of the principal priorities while establishing a business. This is because branding allows the business to accomplish predetermined targets and goals in the long-term. It is quite essential that every growing business uses the best techniques to develop its brand but it is equally important that one should be well aware of things like Trademark Protection so as not to make mistakes while they’re starting out.
One cannot simply decide on a name and sound just like that and end the discussion. Rather, one needs to cautiously consider trademarking, branding, its protection, and the legalities that are associated with them.
Trademarks are obviously the most important aspect of branding and marketing any business. To help a business build the strongest brand possible, its vital that the “trademark clearance” and “federal trademark registration” are part of their branding roadmap. By appointing TrademarkCart as a part of the branding process, you will proactively safeguard the brand you are concentrating to build.
Fundamentals of Trademarks
A trademark is any word, phrase, symbol, design, logo, or any other distinctive representation of the product or services of a person or an organization from those of the others. The identification here is “distinguished”. Trademarks represent not only the actual products/services but also the goodwill of the producer. Trademark registration is the process of granting exclusive rights to any distinctive representation of the brand. This right is not granted casually. The applicants must go through some rigorous procedures and tests to gain it. For a further guide on the fundamentals of trademark read 7 basic things every entrepreneur should know about Trademarks.
Importance of Conducting a Trademark Search
Before investing in a business name, logo, type of packaging, or any other distinctive representation of the business, it’s very critical to conduct a trademark search. The consequences of discovering that someone else is already using the idea at the last minute are serious. Unauthorized use of the trademark can result in a lawsuit, meaning high legal fees, and the results can include the destruction of all marketing materials and merchandise, and/or lead to the requirement of rebranding.
Importance of Trademark Protection
After spending so much time, effort, and money coming up with a perfect name and look for the product/service no one wishes their competitors to use the brand or even come close to it. Attaining a trademark registration is a perfect tool for securing your brand.
A lot of entrepreneurs mistakenly believe that a company name is synonymous with the trademark. A corporate name is the legal name of the business entity that appears on the articles of incorporation or the bylaws filed. It may be possible that the company name may incorporate the trademark, the mere fact that the business is legally incorporated does not impart any trademark rights in that name of parts thereof. One needs to seek separate trademark protection if they wish to obtain exclusive rights over a certain name.
Another common misconception in the crowded “dot-com” world is a small victory to find the desired domain name available for registration. But a domain name registration is not the same as trademark registration. Henceforth to protect the particular domain name from infringement one needs to carry out the trademark registration for its protection.
With many challenges and expenses that new businesses face, it is quite easy to postpone investing in intellectual property protection. This delay, however, may end up being costlier and overwhelming than the preventive steps. When we talk about trademark rights, the old byword is true that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pounce of cure”.
By failing to clear your brand, you may accidentally infringe on someone else’s rights and by delaying the process for your own trademark protection, someone else may beat you.
You can register your brand in your country through a hassle-free process offered by TrademarkCart at extremely affordable prices.
