Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Trademark your Brand

If you're planning on starting a business and want to protect your name, you're in luck. Trademarks are available for registration all over the world, and they can help you build your brand and secure legal protection for your company's identity.

However, it's important to know that there are many other companies who are doing the same thing. The number of available trademarks decreases every day as companies rush to register their names before someone else does.

So what is the cost of your business name? A company depends a lot on how it is recognized in the market and on the level of trust it can build with its customers. So the earlier you can assure ownership of that identity, the better.

In this post, we cover all the benefits of trademark registration, including what gains come from protecting your brand legally within this framework. We'll also discuss some dangers involved with losing out on this opportunity altogether.

What Is a Trademark Protection

Your brand’s trademark is not only your company label, but also your most valuable intangible asset. With that legal registration, your company can worth more, gain legitimacy and competitiveness in the market, and have extra legal protection.

What Can Be Registered?

A trademark can be a set of words, images (like logos, types, and graphics), and even sounds that your company uses to identify itself for the public. The main asset one can register is a business name, but it is also common to register products.

The “Common Law” Trademark

Instead of federal registration, your company can gain the trademark rights after a few years. This is called “common law” trademark and but does not give full ownership of the brand.

This framework was though to protect local and smaller business that maintained the same brand for more than 5 years. They cannot, however, file suits in a federal level, nor guarantee their company national recognition.

Risks of Not Getting your Brand Registered

To register your brand trademark is not mandatory. However, there are several risks on leaving your brand legally unprotected, especially in a world-wide and digitalized economy.

To show a few numbers, there is approximately 7 million brands applying for trademark registration. That correspond to almost 20,000 brand registrations per day.

As I said above, the competition for brand registration is global and fierce. It is more important than ever to register your trademark, so you can prevent your company to face legal problems in the future.

If someone registers your brand, they might own it even if you used it before. You could try to reclaim it, but the cost of resolving the issue will probably stop your growth plan. Worst case scenario, it can put you out of business.

Hence, it is crucial to stake your claim and own the exclusive rights to your brand starting now.

The Top 5 Benefits of Trademark Registration

Finally, we must conclude there is several advantages on brand trademark. If you want to build a serious business, especially if you intend to maintain national or online presences, do not wait to register your brand trademark.

Here are the top 5 reasons and advantages to register your brand as trademark:

1. You will get exclusiveness of use

With trademark protection, no one can copy your registered trademark without your permission. That means your company will ensure it is the only one exploring the brand for marketing and overall communication reasons.

That brand protection expands to a national level, so you can prevent even local business to profit from the brand you are building.

Owning the rights of a trademark, you will be entitled to preferred treatment in Domain Names disputes. As the importance of online presence is growing day by day, this advantage of registering your brand is something that may come in hand in the future.

2. Your company will protect its most valuable asset

Your brand is often the most valuable asset of your company. This is the way your customers will tell you apart from your competitors. Also, this is the asset that will become the repository of your audience trust and serve as the emblem of your business growth and consolidation.

So, make sure that you register your brand as trademark.

3. You will be able to file suits of Trademark Infringement

If someone misuses your registered trademark you can be entitled to damages. This will bar others to use your brand and keep your competitors from exploring it on their marketing campaigns, often with negative connotation.

4. You will always own the brand, always

If you do not own the registered trademark rights someone else might stop you from using it.

Losing a brand can cost several dollars to a company, because you would be losing the intangible assets that supports the place you have in the market. That means your customer’s trust, which you know is extremely hard to get back.

One of the benefits of trademark registration is that you can be certain this case will never occur.

5. You can avoid expensive rebranding

Without the legal brand protection, another company can register before you do. If that is the case, it is quite easy for them to penalize you on using the protected brand. Finally, you will be forced to rebrand, losing a lot of what your business strategy has conquered so far.

Often, rebranding can make customers confused. That only gets worst when you have to build a whole new image for you company. And, as you may know, confused customers mean much less sales conversion.

So, register your brand as a trademark to avoid costly rebranding and customer confusion.

Summing Up

Registering your brand as trademark is like having insurance on your office and company equipment. It is a crucial step you can make now to prevent great issues and losses in the future.

For a small fee you get peace of mind and get exclusive rights to all brand value you build. As we went through, without a trademark your risk lawsuits and the cost to rebrand. Studies show that rebranding can cost up to 5% of a business turnover.

With a trademark, you get exclusiveness of use, legal protection on you brand, and even preference to resolve disputes on domain names.

If you want to register your brand as a trademark, the best way is to start your research right now. If you need help, digital search tools can be very utile to discover if your brand is available for trademark registration.

With that in mind, Digip provides free search advice for brands. With our solution, you can search your brand today and start ensuring your business’ brand protection right now.

Protect your brand today!

Contact a trademark adviser

FAQ

How long does the trademark registration process typically take from start to finish? The trademark registration process duration can vary widely by country, typically ranging from several months to over a year. This timeline is affected by the legal system in place and any challenges the application might face.

What are the specific costs associated with trademark registration, including any potential ongoing fees for maintaining the trademark? Costs associated with trademark registration include application fees, potential legal fees for professional assistance, and additional fees for comprehensive searches or international filings (though most of these would be included if you have a Digip subscription. These costs also vary significantly depending on the jurisdiction and the breadth of protection sought.

Can international trademarks be secured through the same process, or is there a different procedure for protecting a brand in multiple countries? For international trademark protection, one might opt for separate filings in each desired country or utilize international agreements like the Madrid Protocol, which allows for a streamlined application process across multiple countries. This approach simplifies managing trademarks internationally but involves navigating specific requirements and fees of member countries.