This mistake can cost your new startup a fortune and can be easily avoided. Taking proactive steps in the beginning of your startup can ensure that you have all the right to your name. Things like trademark and registration searches are key. With this in mind, the following is a guide to help you with trademark and brand protection for your startup.

What Should You Trademark?

Often startup shave no idea what should protected by trademark registration, since it extends much further than just the company name. Here are a few items which you should consider trademarking to protect your startup. 

Company Name

First, as a small business you should always protect your company name. Your company’s name is how consumers and clients find you and your goods and services. Without protection a competitor can open shop under a highly similar name and begin to take business from you by confusing your clients. A Trademark on your name is the easiest way to protect against this scenario from happening. 

Product Names

Just like with your company name, consumers also locate your goods and services through your product names. As such, if you provide a product or a service under a particular name you must also protect the same to avoid competitors from using like names on their goods or services. A good example of this are device names, most of us know ‘iPhone’, ‘Android’, etc. These are simple ways to protect your product from infringement. 

Logos

In addition to the above, logos can also be protected by trademarks. This will stop competitors from using like images for their goods or services. For example, no one is able to use the Nike Swoosh but Nike themselves. This is an example of a trademark on a logo. 

Marketing & Advertising Slogans

If you use a particular phrase or slogan in your marketing, you may be able to protect it through a trademark on the words. You can see examples of this with many fast food restaurants, such as McDonald’s, “I’m lovin’ it!”, or Papa John’s, “Better ingredients, better pizza, Papa John’s”. 

Benefits of a Trademark

Often startups wonder if trademarking is worth the cost and effort in the early stages of the company. The answer is: Yes! In addition to the potential savings of avoiding a costly rebranding after learning that the name you have been using is trademarked by another company below are a few other ways you can save money. Vice versa, if you do not have a trademark, these items may affect you. 

Deterrence

Having your trademark registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office makes them easier to uncover by those doing trademark searches to see if their own trademark is available to be registered. This in turn helps to prevent the adoption of confusingly similar marks by third parties who may not choose a specific trademark similar to yours if they see your trademark is already registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or the equivalent authority in your respective country. 

Registration Symbol ® 

Only trademarks that have been registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have the authorization to use the ® symbol in their advertising and marketing. The right to use the ® symbol in connection with your trademark may deter potential infringers from adopting or using a similar trademark to yours. It is also a great way to communicate that your brand is legitimate and valuable in a crowded field of imposters and cheap knock off brands.

Damages

Unfortunately, the reality is that companies often have to resort to filing lawsuits to enforce trademarks against infringers that don’t respond to cease and desist letter. When your trademark is registered it increases the type of monetary damages you can demand in a lawsuit if it is later infringed upon such as the ability to recover lost profits associated with the infringement including the possibility of receiving treble damages in certain circumstances as well as recovering attorneys fees. Essentially, having a trademark registration can pay for itself many times over.

Block Importation of Infringing Goods

If your trademark is used in connection with goods this is a key factor. Once registered, your trademark registration can be provided to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency to help block the importation of goods that infringe on your trademark. More and more with products we are seeing this becoming a necessary step to stop product infringement. 

Takedown Notices

In the age of digital commerce where brands are distributed in online marketplaces around the world. One of the most powerful tools at your disposal is the ability to use takedown notices against counter-fitters and unauthorized distributors. This allows you to have the product / service removed based on registered trademark. It’s a fairly straightforward process that all major retailers and service providers adhere to. 

How to Protect Your Trademark (Process)

#1 Check if Your Name is Available

If you have yet to begin to use your product or service name, it is imperative that you research to see if it is available. A properly conducted research report will let you know if the name you seek is available to be registered before you incur the expense of the non-refundable government filing fees required for registration. Also, a research report will ensure you are not adopting and using a name that is infringing upon another’s trademark. If this occurs, you could be forced to give up use of your name and even pay damages to the entity you have infringed upon. A research report will avoid these issues and make sure your name is available. 

#2 Register Your Trademark

Once you have determined your desired name is available to trademark you should immediately apply to register it with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Since trademark rights can be acquired either when you first use your trademark or first to file for an intent to use the same, it is imperative you get a trademark application on file with the USPTO as soon as possible to secure your rights in the trademark before someone else does. 

#3 Monitor For Infringement

Once you have a trademark you need to make sure that no one else adopts and begins use of a confusingly similar trademark. Trademark infringement costs businesses hundreds of millions of dollars each year in lost revenue. Even if a competitor begins use of a similar, albeit not identical trademark to yours, if can still funnel clients away from you business. In essence, competitors create confusion between your and their goods and services by adopting a similar trademark to yours. They then use the good will you have created in your trademark through your marketing to otherwise steal your clients and / or products. 

#4 Police Your Trademark

When infringement of your trademark is discovered, you must act quickly to stop the same. There are numerous ways to enforce your trademark depending upon how it is being infringed upon. For instance, if a competitor has registered and is using a domain name that is similar to your trademark, a domain name dispute may be the right tool to use. If a competitor is simply using a similar trademark on their website, then sending a cease and desist letter or possibly suing them in court may be the best option. Or if they have applied to register a confusingly similar trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 

Final Notes

For many businesses, their brand is their most valuable asset. Through a few judicious steps in seeking trademark protection, monitoring use by others, and policing infringement, you can ensure that your company brand is secured and flourishes with the growth of your business. You can learn more about trademarks and intellectual property protection by visiting the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) here. 

To see what Five23 can do for your startup. Please feel free to contact us here, or by email: contact@five23.io. 

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