We know the power of business branding. Your name and image should speak about the best quality service or product that you are offering. However, marketing alone is insufficient to grow and establish your business.
You need to protect your brand name against abuse by counterfeit product manufacturers. Whatever product you are selling, you have to trademark your name.
Trademarking not only protects your business against abuse but also determines the future of your investment. Take, for instance, this season when COVID-19 has hit various business industries hard. Some businesses have been forced to close, and economies have crumbled. Having a trusted mark can save you at such severe moments.
But before we get there, ensure that you make the right trademarking decisions. Avoid any mistakes which can risk your business in the future. These are the seven severest mistakes to avoid with your trademark.
- Picking a Brand Name Wrongly
Most people protect their business names. The brand name you choose has so much to do with the value of the mark. It is easier to name your business “Mike’s Computers” because you are selling computers, spares, and maybe doing repair services. The name might be easier to remember and to market. After all, everybody will be looking for “computer shops near me” or “cheap computer repair” on Google.
The word computer, with the help of your marketing efforts, will help you to get your business on SERPs. But there’s a persistent disappointment in such a case. There are various types of trademarks, and in this business name, you may fail to register a trademark. Mike is the name of a person, and computers, as a word, is nothing more than the word says – the products you sell.
What prevents another person from marketing the same services or products with the exact name even in your region – or estate? For you to protect a name in any given business industry, you need to make it unique. The best examples to look at include Google and Adidas. These brand names have no real meaning except when you associate them with their products. Such names, called distinctive trademarks, make the best choices that nobody trading in the same business as you can mimic and succeed.
2. Misusing a Trademark
After legally registering and owning a trademark, it is easy to abuse its use. The mistake can cause you to lose the mark. Before registrations, you can use “™” alongside your brand name. It is an indication that the target is put into business use, but you have not obtained ownership of the intellectual property.
After registration, the law requires that you use the registered sign (®️) with your mark. That will warn anybody that may want to link the name to their businesses inappropriately. However, if you registered the name and forgot to use the “registered” sign, then you have no rights to claim damage when someone uses it for their gain.
Another way you can misuse a mark is to change your business line without updating the registration. Assuming you registered the name “Mango” for your electronics production, you need to maintain the same business for the name or symbol to be valid. You need to register the mark separately when you want to use it in a different business class.
3. Ignoring Online Services
You started a small business in your estate, and as it began to take root, you decided to register it. However, since you are mostly concerned with local customers, and the flow is right, you decided that there is no need to go into extensive marketing online. As a result, you have no social media profile or domain name associated with your business.
Then somebody comes up dealing in the same business as you do and registers all the domains that bear your brand name. Whether he did this ignorantly or by consent, you have no claim over them. When you want to get your brand online, you will discover that the name you chose is gone. It is either you pay the substantial registrant fees to transfer the ownership to you, or you use a different name. That would be an unprecedented cost to your business.you can try order management software.
4. Registering a Trademark before Setting Up a Business
Set up a business, find an appropriate brand name, then register it. Apart from giving you time to understand your business’s future, you also learn the basics of how to trademark a phrase.
Registration has two options, “in use” and the other “intend to use” one. The former is more prevalent and advisable. Registering a mark that you intend to use requires that you put it into use within six months, not to mention that it is costlier and has no protection.
5. Assuming Trademark Ownership by Invention
So you sat down and worked hard to come up with an original trademark. After an intensive search for its availability, you discovered that nobody has ever used it in their business. You employ your well-thought brand name or sign with your business, and it fits well.
You continue with business as usual. Later, someone discovers your mark, and they realize how unique and captivating it is. When they search, they know that you have not registered the trademark. Then they register and use it with the business industry you run. What next? You get a notice to stop using the mark.
Will you run to court to sue someone for using your mark? In such a case, you do not have any legal documents to support your ownership of the target. You, therefore, have nothing to claim. The simple mistake of assumption ends up putting you on the offensive side. You can also make use of Legal document management software to help the firm with handling the daily work and digitize it.
6. Not Putting the Trademark Into Use
You have successfully registered your trademark in association with a specific business according to the various classes of products and services. Down the line, whether voluntarily or by circumstance, your business stops operation. You lose the mark.
The law requires that every mark you register remains operational as long as you can hold it. For you not to lose the mark, you should always submit the proof of its use for the business you registered it with. At the initial stage, you should file for renewal in the fifth year, then repeat before the closure of the tenth year. Beyond that, you only need to send your submissions once every ten years.
7. Ignoring the Trademark Attorney in Your Process
You can sign the inventory, order stock, and process delivery without the need for an attorney to be present. However, when it comes to trademark registration, you should not ignore your attorney. The success or failure of your business depends on how much you protect your brand.
An attorney will help you in most registration stages. He will also represent you in case of an infringement. Leave the work of searching up the availability of your mark for registration and the filing process. It will cost you more than doing it yourself, but you will have the peace of mind you need to focus on your business.
Summing Up
Every entrepreneur dreams of success. Working hard can boost your business, but your identity and brand image matter a lot in the success of your business. A trademark ensures that nobody can use your name, logo, sign, or color combination to sell products of the same type as you. By avoiding so many trademark mistakes, your business can withstand the competition in the market.
