What is one sign that you should pursue a trademark for your business name? To help you recognize when it’s right to pursue a trademark, we asked business owners and experienced entrepreneurs this question for their best insights. From when your logo outpaced your name to when your brand is being misused, there are several signs that indicate when you should pursue a trademark for your business name.
Here are nine signs that trademarking your business name is a good idea:
Your Business Logo Outpaced Your Name
Too Many Competitors in Your Niche
Your Company Was Formed Into An LLC
To Improve Digital Identity
Customer Confusion Among Competitors
Website Traffic Loss May Indicate Name Infringement
When Your Brand Is Being Misused
For Brand Recognition
When Your Customers Are Not Returning Back
Your Business Logo Outpaces Your Name
As trademark applications come with high costs, they are only worth submitting when your business derives goodwill from them. When customers recognise your logo even before knowing what products or services you sell, that's a great sign it's the time to start the application process. Protecting your brand can ensure the chances for misattribution of your efforts will be minimised.
Michael Sena, SENACEA
Too Many Competitors in Your Niche
A registered trademark not only gives you exclusive control to use your company name but also safeguards it against others who may want to capitalize on it. If you're part of an upcoming industry with many competitors that have similar names, a trademark offers nationwide protection, ensuring that no one can imitate your business name. Once registered, you can enforce your trademark at any point, filing a lawsuit in federal court against anyone threatening to claim your business name.
Riley Beam, Douglas R. Beam, P.A.
Your Company Was Formed Into An LLC
In the event that your company has already been formed into a corporation or LLC to run itself, you should file your trademark under the umbrella of the corporation or LLC in which your company is currently registered. Also, if you have yet to form an LLC but are considering it, you should proceed with this before registering a trademark. A trademark certificate of registration is relatively easy through online filing.
Nick Shackelford, Structured Agency
To Improve Digital Identity
Business trademarks are essential for companies who invest time in developing a strong identity within their industry. If another brand pops up when searching your company name, that's a sign it needs to be trademarked. A strong digital identity will increase the value of your business and will leave a lifetime impression with customers while differentiating you from competitors in your field. Consider it a certificate of registration as an established brand. This customer relationship will help with reputation and turn your company into a credible brand as the business grows. A good product and domain can be copied or stolen, but an exceptional brand identity is much harder to replicate.
Lance Herrington, UNICO Nutrition
Customer Confusion Among Competitors
If you start noticing competitors trying to use your business name or logo to compare your offerings with their own in their sales material, you should consider getting a trademark. Ideally, you should start the process before that happens so you can immediately take legal action if necessary. While you cannot stop competitors from engaging in comparison advertising, your trademark gives you a legal leg to stand on if they are using your trademarks in ways that could be confusing for a normal person. If this is the case, then you can seek out ways to have them stop using your trademarks.
Nathalie Walton, Expectful
Website Traffic Loss May Indicate Name Infringement
Website traffic is key to any business or corporate entity in measuring their promotional reach. If you notice sudden decreases in visits, this may be a sign that others are utilizing or capitalizing on your name, slogans, or logos. In this case, it is critical that you find an authorized person to legally trademark all of your names and intellectual property. Others that find the use of your name to help their advertising material and drive revenue, will be quick to trademark those items as their own. In the last year, trademark applications rose by nearly a fifth, meaning that ideas will be out of play for those who do not act quickly. Trademarking your business name not only protects your idea, but avoids confusion among your customers, while cementing your brand in the public eye.
Adelle Archer, Eterneva
When Your Brand Is Being Misused
Being into the Microsoft Excel business, I started realizing that many other websites started to use my brand name which was misrepresented online and outside of my business. That was a sign for me to trademark my business name. After trademarking my business, I felt more confident and authoritative as a business owner, as many brands and enterprises are deemed more serious when it comes to "talking business" than those that are not.
Sumit Bansal, TrumpExcel
For Brand Recognition
When our startup started getting traction and people started recognizing our Solitaired website, it was a sign for us to trademark our business name and protect the identity of our gaming website. To distinguish one's products and services from those of their competitors, trademarking a company name is essential. It prohibits competitors from stealing or replicating their brand by doing so.
Darshan Somashekar, Spider Solitaire Challenge
When Your Customers Are Not Returning Back
Customers returning is a sign that the business is able to win the end-users heart and has a long way to go. Acquiring a one-time purchase is not a tough task, making a customer return is and the absence of a trademark can augment this. Having a trademark creates a quality assurance mindset for customers and ensures that they are investing in a trusted product. Even if a product is quality-oriented, the absence of a trademark will give birth to doubt and customers will back off immediately. Certain products like electronics and home appliances should acquire trademarks from the very beginning to prove the interested quality standards. Basically, it backs your quality claims and makes it easy to gain customer trust.
Jonathan Tian, Mobitrix
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