Registering Trademarks: Why It Is Important for Your Business
A trademark is generally used to distinguish that one individual product, business organization, or legal entity is unique. It can come in the form of a phrase, logo, symbol, pattern, image, name, word, design or combinations of these. However, trademarks are not limited to these elements. Although quite rare, there are those who have registered things such as flavor, color or scent as their trademarks. To make sure that the uniqueness of your trademark has no duplicates, you need to register it.
To register your trademark in the USA, you need to apply to the Intellectual Property Office. This can be done through online registration or through a direct visit to a lawyer. When considering doing trademark registration, you need to do a little research. To find out whether or not your trademark has been registered under a different registrar, you can search for existing trademark with the help from the Intellectual Property Office. After confirming that yours is the only one in the marketplace, you have to make sure that the logo, design, word, or any things that mark your business is exactly as you want it. After the application has been submitted, you won’t be able to make any changes to the trademark.
Trademark registration is very beneficial for your business. It protects your company against any trademark claims from other parties. This will also give exclusivity to your business. If your business has been continuously using the same mark for five consecutive years, you can apply for incontestability status. This status grants you stronger legal protection. No similar trademarks will have the chance of winning against you in a lawsuit or administrative hearing.
Submitting your mark under federal registration will give you convenience in much wider territory. Having no protection from federal law is very risky. Who might know that in the middle of a fast-growing business, you will encounter a company with a confusingly similar logo, or one that imitates your logo? Without protection, the other imitator may have registered the trademark and you would have to abandon its use.
Trademark registration is also beneficial for your financial situation. If you are registered under federal jurisdiction, there is a good chance that you might recover an infringement award for triple the amount of your actual damages. Although trade infringement might be quite a rare condition, you will be glad to know that you will have the opportunity to recover maximum damages with minimum expense. As a valid owner of the trademark, you might also get the convenience when facing disputes for an infringing Internet domain name.
