A trademark is a word, symbol, name, or combination of the three that is used in marketing to identify a company or brand. It is important to have if you want consumers to recognize that your company is providing a product. Brand recognition is a great way for a reputable company to keep customers coming back for more business, which is why it is incredibly important to have the legal rights to your intellectual property.
Who needs a trademark?
An individual with a creative project, small business, or large company would benefit from getting a trademark. This allows them to keep other people from having anything too similar to their brand. Trademark lawyers can also help their clients file for a patent, which is used to protect inventions, or a copyright, which protects artistic or literary work.
How do you get a trademark?
Filing for a trademark is a fairly easy process when you have a lawyer on your side to assist in making decisions. He or she will be able to guide you through the process seamlessly, and help you figure out whether or not you want an international trademark, if your ideas are able to be trademarked, and continue to protect your brand after the process is over.
Should you register your trademark?
While it is not required to register your trademark, it’s always a good idea to. This gives you exclusive rights to your trademark everywhere your product or service is being used. It also informs others who are looking into getting a trademark about yours, so that they will not do anything too similar to what you have. Companies want to be able to stand out from one another, so it is beneficial for others to see what has already been used to come up with something different.
Registering your trademark also gives you the ability to sue in federal court over a trademark infringement. This means if anyone tries to replicate your trademark, they will likely have to pay you compensation in court, as well as stop using whatever it is they copied.
Contact a lawyer, to get assistance with filing for a trademark and for protecting any other proprietary business ideas.