Trademarks - Should You Register One?
Registering your trademark shows investors that you mean business. It also protects your brand when competitors try to emulate rather than innovate.
Trademarks – The Benefits of Registering a Trademark
When you hire a trademark attorney to protect your brand, product, or concept with a federal trademark, other people or organizations cannot legally use intellectual property without permission. By registering your trademark, you can help protect your brand’s reputation. A trademark can ensure that your company name, logo, and even specific design features of your manufactured items are used only in ways you approve.
The Patent Professor®, a trademark attorney and expert in intellectual property law, will walk you through the application process to protect your brand with a federal trademark.
What Is a Trademark Name?
- Easily distinctive
- Not similar to competing brands
- An adjective, rather than a noun or verb
This final distinction can help keep your brand from being genericized, which means the word can refer to any other similar products.
For instance, it’s not correct to say:
“Can you put a BAND-AID® on this cut?”
Instead, you’d say:
“Can you put a BAND-AID® brand bandage on this cut?”
Similarly, you shouldn’t ask someone to “Xerox®” a paper but instead, to make a photocopy of the document using the Xerox® copy machine.
Ideally, a trademark should also be:
- Easy to pronounce
- Short
- Easily recognizable
- Easily remembered, especially by consumers
What Is an Example of a Trademark?
You may be surprised to learn that company and product names aren't the only things you can trademark.
You can also trademark a:
- Symbol (such as the famous Nike "swoosh" symbol)
- Slogan (again, like Nike's "Just Do It" line)
- Color (like the red used in conjunction with Coca-Cola products)
- Sound (like the three tones used for the NBC television network or Red Robin's "Yummmm!" at the end of the restaurant's jingle)
What Are the Benefits of Trademark Registration?
Registering a trademark can help prevent confusion in the marketplace. If another company tries to sell products or services similar to yours, you could lose sales. Customers may think they are buying your brand, but they aren't.
Trademarks can also help keep your brand from becoming genericized, which happens when consumers treat all products in your category as if they are precisely the same as yours.
Once you establish your brand as the tops in your field, you want your customers to know they are getting the best quality when they do business with you. A trademark prevents other people from coming in and selling merchandise or services under your name. Other items may not meet your quality standards and could tarnish your brand's reputation and lead to lost sales if consumers get confused.
Trademarks also help people recognize your brand easily.
Sporting that ® (for registered trademark) service mark next to your name adds validity to your brand.
What Types of Intellectual Property Can't Be Trademarked?
- Any written works, including novels or non-fiction books
- Plays and movie scripts
- Poetry
- Artwork
- Songs
- Films
- Theatrical performances
You also can’t trademark inventions, machines, business processes, or pharmaceuticals. These are protected by utility patents. You can, however, protect the brand names of these inventions with a registered trademark.
Finally, you can’t protect designs or plants with a trademark. You can protect these with design or plant patents, respectively. The intellectual property attorneys at The Patent Professor® law firm can also help you with the patent application process.
What Does a Trademark Attorney Do?
A trademark attorney is part of a specialized group of intellectual property attorneys in a law firm. A trademark attorney can help you with the application process to file a trademark. The trademark attorney will:
- Conduct a comprehensive common law trademark search to be sure no other trademarks exist (registered or otherwise) that resemble yours
- Ensure that your trademark application shows the distinctiveness of the trademark
- Ensure that any improvements to your business are captured in the scope of the trademark application
- A trademark attorney may also provide trademark monitoring to ensure other companies and brands don't commit trademark infringement against your intellectual property.
- A law firm with extensive expertise in trademark law, like The Patent Professor®, can also help defend your trademark if the case goes to court.
Do I Need to Register My Trademark to Protect My Intellectual Property?
In short, you don't have to register your trademark in the United States to gain protection. A federal trademark filed through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office offers trademark registration rights across the U.S.
However, if you don't file a trademark, your brand and logo are protected locally. Competitors in your area cannot infringe upon your trademark.
You can also file for a state trademark to gain protection across your state.
Do I Need a Trademark Attorney to File My Trademark Application?
A trademark attorney can save you time and money through the trademark filing application process. A trademark attorney understands the proper steps to take to ensure no prior art exists that could invalidate your trademark.
Your intellectual property attorney can provide legal advice and help you modify your trademark to make it more distinctive.
How Do I Trademark a Name and Logo?
You can file your federal trademark application through the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Your trademark application should include any necessary fees and all relevant information to encourage a positive response from the USPTO. It can take up to six months to earn your registered trademark service mark.
In the interim, you can use the ™ service mark on your logo or slogan.
The Patent Professor® can help save time and money through the trademark application process. Call us today at (877) 958-8295 for help getting your trademark application filed.
Protect your brand with a trademark.
The Patent Professor® can help you when you call (877) 958-8295.
