10 reasons why you must get a trademark for your brand
A trademark can be any word, name, symbol, slogan, package design or a combination of these, capable of identifying and distinguishing a specific product, service or brand identity.Trademark protection applies to business names, symbols, logos, sounds, and colors that are emblematic of a specific brand.
Trademark law prevents others from using marks that are similar to registered signs and can cause confusion among different brands.
Trademarking is an important step for protecting a business because it helps safeguard a brand’s identity. By trademarking a brand, its services and products become more distinctive in terms of their competitors, becoming their intellectual property. They not only help distinguish brands from competitors but they also help communicate effectively with the audience and help establish an emotional connection. It stops competitors from poaching customers by imitating a brand and also offers solid protection when infringers do something reputation-damaging.
Most small businesses often assume that it is only essential for global brands to register a trademark. But protecting efforts and brand identity is just as crucial for small businesses as it is for huge corporations.
Irrespective of scale, industry or the history of a business, trademarking has a lot of benefits such as:
- Trademarks build brand recognition
It is common to lose yourself in a crowded marketplace of businesses offering similar services but trademarks make it easy for customers to find your business. They help capture customer attention and make your business, products and services stand out. Once businesses begin using their trademarks in advertising, on product packaging, and when dealing with customers, they become an important part of a brand’s identity. Customers can easily recognise who they are dealing with, the reputation of your business and are less likely to look for alternatives- which is a critical factor in driving a customer’s purchase decision.
- Trademarks are effective communication tools
Trademarking helps businesses communicate its brand to the audience. In a few words, they convey intellectual and emotional attributes and messages about a brand, what it stands for, its reputation, products and services.
Additionally, trademarks are also translate-able and can easily adapt its communication effectively across borders, cultures, and languages.
- Trademarks are a valuable business asset
Trademarks increase the value of a brand according to ISO standard (10668:2010), registered trademarks are one of three most important components that attribute to a brand value. Trademarks not only create immediate value, but they grow in value over time. The more a business improves and expands the more valuable its brand becomes. Similar to real estate or physical assets that can be bought, sold or licensed, trademarks, and a brand’s goodwill, are also property assets that can be leveraged or used as collateral assets to grow businesses.
- Trademarks leverage revenue sources
Trademark protection is essential if businesses wish to expand through licensing and franchising in the future. In a more long-term sense, these methods help businesses generate revenues without doing the heavy lifting of running the entire business.
- Trademarks tell people that you mean business
Trademarks lend credence to a business’ name. It shows the world and competitors a sense of faith in the success and expansion of the business. In essence, it positions a brand as having something unique worth stealing or infringing upon.
- Trademarks help avert future lawsuits
Not registering a trademark can leave businesses open to lawsuits from companies with similar names, signs, slogans, or designs. In such a situation, businesses will be forced to either spend on the litigation process or spend a fortune on rebranding its established brand identity. Trademark attorneys and registered trademark agents can help businesses get ahead of such problems because trademarks prevent other businesses from using similar brand identities in the first place.
- Trademarks are beneficial incase of lawsuits
Although trademark registrations are not mandatory, they provide a solid defense base in case of infringement cases. Business owners can neither file infringement law-suits without registered trademarks, nor defend themselves properly in case one is filed against them.
- Trademarks help attract human resource
Established brands with registered trademarks help inspire positive feelings in people’s minds, giving them incentives to join. Businesses that are able to maintain good reputations are more likely to have employees inclined to work with and for them. This becomes extremely important when businesses are looking at expansion.
- Trademarks are a cost-effective method of protection
Trademarks are generally easy to file and extremely cost-effective. They only require renewals once every 10 years, making reducing additional costs.
- Trademarks never expire
Unlike patents, copyrights or industrial designs, trademark rights can last indefinitely if the owner continues to use the mark. Although trademark renewals are mandatory once every 10 years, they don’t have a shelf life like other forms of intellectual property protections. As assets, they live as long as the business using the name does. Getting a logo trademark registration, in essence, makes the brand name more permanent.
Trademarks covert mere products and services into intellectual property by granting security of their brand, building recognition and creating valuable assets.
Any signs, such as the brand name, taglines, logos, unique labeling, signatures, packaging, design, associated symbols, words, color-schemes or experiences that represent a brand can be trademarked. To understand which part of a brand’s identity is the most trademark-worthy and beneficial to a business, it is best to consult a trademark lawyer or a trademark law firm.
