As a startup, one of your most valuable assets is your brand, which is generally expressed in your firm name and logo. The amount of effort you spend developing the perfect unique name, designing branding, and marketing for your business is practically hard to quantify. The last thing you want to discover after designing signs, letterheads, and promotional materials is that another firm has given you a cease-and-desist letter asking you to stop using your company name.
This blunder can cost your young firm a lot and is readily avoidable. Taking preemptive efforts from the outset of your firm can ensure that you have complete ownership of your name. Searches for trademarks and registrations are essential. With this in mind, the following is a guide to assist you in defending your startup’s trademark and brand.
What Should You Trademark?
Startups frequently have no idea what should be protected by trademark registration because it covers much more than the company name. Here are a few items to consider trademarking to protect your startup.
- Company Name: First and foremost, as a small business owner, you should constantly preserve your company name. Your company’s name is how customers and clients find you and your products and services. Without protection, a competitor can start shopping under a highly similar name and begin to steal your customers by misleading them. A trademark on your business name is the most straightforward way to prevent this scenario from occurring.t the company name. Here are a few items to consider trademarking to protect your startup.
- Product Names: Consumers find your items and services through your product names, just as they do your company name. As a result, if you deliver a product or service under a specific name, you must also protect it to prevent rivals from adopting similar names on their goods or services. Device names are an excellent illustration of this; most of us are familiar with ‘iPhone,’ ‘Android,’ and so on. These are straightforward methods for protecting your goods from infringement.
- Logos: In addition to the preceding, logos can be trademarked. This will prevent competitors from utilizing similar photos for their products or services. For example, only Nike is permitted to use the Nike Swoosh. This is an illustration of a trademark on a logo.
- Slogans for Marketing and Advertising: If you utilize a specific phrase or slogan in your marketing, you may be able to protect it by registering the terms as a trademark. Many fast-food establishments, such as McDonald’s, “I’m lovin’ it!” and Papa John’s, “Better ingredients, better pizza, Papa John’s,” are instances of this.
Seven reasons why trademark registration is essential for a startup?
- TRADEMARK Create Brand Recognition
Trademarking provides startups with brand stability. By trademarking a firm name, one distinguishes its services and goods from those of rivals so acquiring intellectual property. This stops competitors from imitating or stealing their brand.
- It’s an Incentive for Employees to Join
When a startup has a trademark, it must maintain a favourable reputation. People are more likely to work with and for a company with a strong reputation. This is especially true when it comes to expansion. More staff are required as a startup if the firm is to grow. This necessitates the creation of a budget, making the trademark an essential asset when applying for company credit.
- It Averts Legal Issues in the Future
Failure to register a trademark exposes a company to litigation from firms that did register one under the same name, sign, slogan, or design. If this happens, a company will be obliged to change everything they created, including the campaign, website content, and, to a significant part, their brand identity.
By filing a trademark, a startup may protect itself against other companies using its name and copying its products or services.
- A Trademark is for Life or a right in perpetuity
A trademark is perpetual, requiring just periodic renewal. Consider the aforementioned giant enterprises, Pampers and Jacuzzi; they have been powerhouses in their respective fields for decades and will continue to prosper in the Future. This highlights the need to undertake rigorous trademark research to ensure that the regulating authority does not deny a startup’s application.
As a result, it is prudent to retain the services of a reputable Intellectual Property service provider with a strong reputation.
- It is A Company’s Greatest Asset
It can catalyze increased value as a startup firm grows, especially if the startup continues to grow. As a result, it is critical to employ a trademark in marketing techniques to improve brand awareness and attract more customers.
Consumers will identify a startup’s trademark with how the firm operates once it has established a favourable reputation for its product or service. Brands are beneficial when a company wants to:
- Diversify its products or services,
- Branch into franchising through licensing, and
- Attain more value by putting itself up for sale.
- It Tells People That You Mean Business
It’s no secret that trademarks are important for your brand name; consider Disney. Imagine if Disney did not trademark their name or brand. Consider the legal mayhem that would result; individuals would battle tooth and nail to profit from the empire of success surrounding their registered brand.
Furthermore, if a company has a trademark tied to its brand, it shows the world and competitors alike that they believe in their company’s success and that they have something worth copying. That may seem morbid, but it is the truth.
Would you defend something that isn’t worth protecting? Going above and beyond by registering a trademark for your company casts a distinct light on you in the eyes of your target customers.
- It Gives a Sense of Autonomy.
It’s no secret that the industry is highly saturated in various distinct areas varying in size and function. It’s a gruesome scene. Being even the smallest fish in the most miniature pond as a startup is challenging. In this regard, a trademark might serve as a crutch; once a startup has established itself, it will wish to retain its excellent status.
Trademarking a brand helps a new company soften the blows of the market by wearing a protective blanket; it both directly and indirectly alerts others that the brains behind the company are serious about business.
Concluding…
Registering a trademark should be a top priority when establishing a new business. It will safeguard a company from the start, allowing it to thrive in the long run. It is critical to secure a startup at the outset to obtain an edge and avoid financial loss in the Future.