Trademark Basics: Secure Your Brand Today
If you have a new product or service, you’ll probably want to give it a name. This name is called a trademark for a product and a service mark for a service. From a legal point of view trademarks and service marks are treated the same.
A Trademark is used so that consumers identify your products and services with your company. For example, the word Nike or logo Nike Swoosh or the slogan “Just Do It” all make a consumer trust the producer or service because of Nike’s reputation for high quality products. We normally pay more for goods from a company we trust.
When selecting a trademark, there is a natural tendency to give it a name that describes the product or service such as Travelfast travel agency services. This would be called a descriptive mark and would probably not be registered by the Trademark Office because it describes the services and prevents others from using these words to describe their business. Another type of mark is a suggestive trademark suggests the goods or a characteristic of the goods. An example is HALO for shampoo–it suggests brightness. This type can usually be registered. Then there is an arbitrary trademark that is unrelated to the goods; it does not describe the goods or a characteristic of the goods. An example is Xerox.
Before investing too much time and money into your trademark, it’s important that a trademark search be made to ensure that it is available.
Assuming the mark is available, the next step is to simply use your trademark in commerce. So If you have a website offering some service such as building websites, or your selling a new soap, you should use your trademark followed by a tm. That means I’m putting people on notice that I’m using my trademark. This is gives you common law protection and prevents others from using your trademark wherever you’re using it.
Of course, you can never be sure how and where you’ll want to use your trademark in the future. To protect yourself throughout the United States, it is highly advisable to register your mark with the U.S. Trademark Office.
Registering your trademark puts the public and business on notice of your claim to the mark. Specifically, this helps prevent others from using your mark or potentially conflicting marks. This could save you the hassle of identifying infringers and enforcing the mark.
Trademarks have a number of benefits
You can legally prevent competitors from using the same or similar marks.
You can license your trademarks to other businesses for a fee.
They are an asset that adds value to your business and products.
Once obtained, they can last indefinitely.
Because of the value of a trademark, it is advisable to have a trademark professional to handle all aspects of registering your Trademark Application.
We have over 35 years of experience with all aspects of Trademarks.
If you have any specific questions or would like to schedule an initial, free consultation, don’t hesitate to contact us by phone or through the appointment box.
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