Paula Celestino, founder @ SPRK Media Group Inc.
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Imagine a lawyer showing up at your doorstep and telling you that your brand is serviced after you’ve worked on that identity for two to five years. You realize it’s because another company in your industry uses a similar name or logo, and if they don’t file a lawsuit to stop using that name, they could have problems with competition or confusion for their customers.
What is the most logical thing for you to do at that moment? Of course, you should get a lawyer if you don’t have one. Now imagine that after the whole case, a court order says you should change your brand name after you’ve invested a lot of energy and time building the brand to its current status—not to mention the thousands of dollars you’ve spent on a brand identity and branding system. Think of the kind of pain that comes with having to start all over with a new name. Well, that could happen to you if you don’t protect your brand.
No one likes to fight in court to keep their company’s name, but it happens all the time to brands around the world. For example, in 2016, the French designer house Louis Vuitton filed a lawsuit against a Korean fast food restaurant called Louis Vuitton Dak. The court ordered the name change because it was too similar to the designer’s brand. Louis Vuitton has an advantage in this case because they have protected their business name earlier.
To avoid such a nightmare from happening to your company, there are a few things you need to know about trademarks and how to really treat them, which I’ve simplified below.
But first, let’s get down to the basics.
What is a trademark?
A trademark is a symbol, word or group of words that a company or product has legally registered or by which it has become known through use. It can be a word, phrase, symbol, design, image, slogan or even the shape of a product. The owner of the trademark has exclusive rights to use it in connection with goods and services.
A trademark is also called a sign of intellectual property. Its purpose is to assign a unique identifier to goods and services so that customers can determine with certainty who produced them and where they come from.
Now that you understand what a trademark means, why is it important to trademark your brand or product instead of leaving it like any other brand in the world operating without a trademark?
Importance of trademark
There are many brands involved in one business or another, but most do not have a unique way in which their target audience can always identify their product. Asking why branding is important is almost the same as asking why your brand should be unique.
Let’s dive in the importance of your business trademark:
• A trademark helps protect your brand from being sued by others using similar property. You cannot protect something that is not unique or original to you; therefore, it is crucial to give your product or service a distinctive feature that competitors will not be able to easily replicate.
• Helps you build equity within your industry by showing people that you are credible and trustworthy. This means that if another brand tries to imitate your product or service, it will be difficult to convince customers to buy their version because it will not have the same name as yours, just as it is difficult for any other brand to copy or steal any Apple product or design. Nike or any other trademark.
• Trademarks are useful when filing legal documents such as contracts because they give you more leverage than just using a generic term.
Now that you know how important it is to protect your brand, what are the basic steps to do so?
Simple ways to protect your brand
After years of working in the full branding business and witnessing what different brands went through just to keep the name they branded and used, there are ways we simplify branding.
When a client chooses our agency to create their brand, it is our responsibility to ensure that the name and identity of the proposed brand is unique and will not cause a branding nightmare for our clients in the future. There is a simple procedure for this.
Before presenting name ideas to clients, it’s important to do a quick trademark search and check for domain availability. For this step we use the free website trademarkia.com. After that research, choose a name that will not cause problems for the client. Before we start any design, we have a naming presentation with some visualizations to review so that the client can visually understand the proposed naming concepts. Next, it’s time to design the logo.
As a final step, use a trusted service to initiate the name and logo registration process. I would recommend working with an attorney on this. (Our team has good experience using trademarky.io’s free services, but anyone can do a free search at USPTO.gov.) By combining the assets of both brands, you’ll save thousands of dollars and keep investing in your brand without worry.
In conclusion
A trademark can help you distinguish your products or services from those of your competitors, and it can also give you a legal weapon to fight infringement. While the trademark application process can be complex and time-consuming, it’s worth the effort to protect your brand identity. And with a clear brand system, you can rest easy knowing that your brand name and logo are yours.
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