Trademarks: Good things come to those who DON'T wait

For as long as we have been helping heart-leading entrepreneurs with their legal concerns, registering trademarks have been one legal duty that seems to always get swept under the rug.

Just a few weeks ago, a client (let’s call her Katie) reached out asking for help because a new business in town copied her EXACT same company name. She has built her brand for years… and now she might have to spend thousands of dollars and exert so much time and effort to reclaim her mark.

Now… how do you avoid this?

Let’s start with the basics.

Trademark protection is not as easy as putting a ™or ® symbol next to your mark… although we wish it was.

A trademark is a registration that says you are the only one who's allowed to use a particular mark. Whether that's a word or a logo or a series of words, it's a great way to let the world know what it is that you do, the types of services that you offer, and that if anyone sees your mark, they associate it with your specific brand. After all, why else would you create it? 

Your brand is critical to marketing and protecting your small business — and you need to be proactive in ensuring that only you can use it.

Why It Matters

Trademarks give you the power of enforcing your trademark in the event that someone else is copying your name. And it’s also important for protecting your business in the event that you want to sell your business in the future.

If someone thinks your idea is similar enough to theirs, you may have a legal battle on your hands. This can happen easily if someone decides to copy your exact business model and put their own name on it — which happens all too often. You'll be left holding up your side of a court case that could cost you time and money that would've been much better spent growing your business.

Early Bird Gets the Worm

Waiting to register a trademark is something that many entrepreneurs do. You think you’ll get to it later, but a year comes and go… and another… and another… until it’s completely swept under the rug. Then one day, you realize that someone else has already filed for a trademark on your name or logo and now you are in a pickle.

You spent years crafting and growing your brand. What do you do now?

You will then have to invest in challenging that mark. It will cost four to five times more and the responsibility is now going to be on you to show that you've been using it longer…

…and that's thousands of dollars

…and it takes years.

Remember: A trademark is the strongest form of proof that the mark is registered to you.

Wanna know if your mark is already registered? You can check the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) to see.

Still have questions regarding trademarks or other intellectual property concerns? Click here to book your free legal consult with me and I'll make sure to get you squared away with best legal practices.

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