To Trademark Or Not To Trademark

Having a trademark means your business cares about its identity and wants to protect it. Trademarking your name, logo or any other elements of your branding helps you establish who you are and enables you to start building a reputation that will stand out in the minds of your customers.

For example, even though some people may not fully understand what a Google Workspace subscription includes or entails, the fact that “Google” has been trademarked means even the uninitiated will associate it instantly with leadership in the tech space.

Getting your business off the ground means establishing a clear and consistent brand, and trademarking can be a critical step in this process. Many companies, however, fail to take advantage of it because they believe it costs too much or is only necessary for large corporations. In fact, even very small enterprises can benefit from it, and the upfront costs are much smaller than the potential damages that they could incur if they don’t go through with it. Read on to learn more about why you should trademark.

Establishing Your Brand

Securing a trademark on your company’s name, logo and more requires submitting an application to the United States Patent & Trademark Office. During the approval process, attorneys will review your submitted mark to make sure there will be no conflicts with other trademarks. This is important because the last thing you want is to spend time and money developing marketing materials only to find out a competitor across town already had the same basic idea. If that happens, you not only will create confusion in the marketplace but also leave yourself vulnerable to legal action.

Protecting Your Identity

Identity theft is a concern for more than just individuals. If you’re successful, you could inspire a wave of imitators trying to leech off your success. Having your branding trademarked gives you protection against these knock-off companies, providing you with the basis for taking them to court. If you don’t, you could see your profitability and reputation suffer as a result of these fly-by-night imposters flooding the market with inferior products or services.

Securing Your Legitimacy

Your customers want to feel confident in doing business with you. They want to have assurances that you will treat them fairly and be accountable for your interactions with them. Establishing a trademark is a subtle but important means of earning that trust. At the very least, it shows that you take your work seriously and want to serve your customer base in good faith. Without the registered trademark symbol next to your name, clients may subconsciously become wary of you.

Making Your Case

When you trademark your name and other branding elements, you establish an iron-clad defense against infringements. If you don’t go through the process, it can be incredibly difficult to defend your brand because you may not be able to prove that you were first to have your identity. There would be no official record of when your brand was established, allowing arguments over its use to drag on and cost you more than they should.

Why a Trademark Is Worth Having

Although the final cost for trademarking your business and associated elements can vary depending on numerous factors, it’s much more affordable than you might think. Filing an application with the federal government costs between $250 and $350 per each class of goods or services. Hiring an attorney to help you through the process is highly recommended, but altogether you should only need to spend roughly $1,000 to secure a single trademark. Compared to how much you could lose if you don’t go through with it, the choice is clear. Putting your mark on the business world starts with having your business trademarked.

Ashley Barton is Senior Director of Marketing for Name.com, a Denver-based domain name registrar and web-hosting company. With more than 15 years of digital marketing experience in e-commerce and tech, she’s passionate about reducing the barriers for getting online by connecting startups, entrepreneurs and SMBs with best-in-class tools and services.

Sources

https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/if-my-business-name-is-registered-with-the-state-do-i-still-need-a-trademark
https://smallbiztrends.com/2012/02/you%E2%80%99ve-started-a-business-is-your-brand-protected.html

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/need-trademark-company-name-2352.html
https://www.parsalaw.com/trademark-your-business-name-and-logo
https://www.ny-trademark-lawyer.com/who-should-be-the-owner-of-a-trademark.html