What is a brand? A trademark is simply a word, sign, or logo, usually printed on a company’s products to make those products recognizable from other companies’ products. Your brand will eventually become your identity, and your customers will recognize you with it.
A good brand choice is sticky to the mind, so it is easily remembered by consumers.
What are the steps to register a trademark?
Registering a trademark for your products and your services is the same. The Patent and Trademark Office requires some documents about the location of your business, your personal identity and nationality, and an application form. What is recommended at the registry level is to prepare at least 2-3 options for your brand name or brand symbol. In case your first priority name doesn’t meet the regulations, you would use the second and third alternatives.
Trademark Protection
Trademark protection is simply a matter of owning a trademark and making sure that no one in the world uses your brand name, sign or symbol on their products.
The registry office somehow does not guarantee that your brand is safe. They only register new names and trademarks in their database, and it is their duty to protect your trademark from being hijacked. You can do it by:
- Choose a very special and unique name
- Checking new registered businesses to make sure they don’t look like yours
What is a trademark license?
Once you get your trademark, it only makes you eligible to work and produce under that name. However, there are times when a business owner needs someone else who is not working for them to provide services or products with the same brand name. Therefore, this second person needs to be granted a license to be granted the same privileges with respect to the given mark.
business classification
Classification is also an important matter to consider. You may need a consultant so that you can choose the most suitable classes that your business is in, because if you don’t choose the correct classes at the registration level, you won’t be able to undo your choices.
Disclaimer of Trademark
If your trademark meets any of the following criteria, it will be rejected:
- not be distinctive
- Descriptive terms that must be kept freely available for general use
- Obvious risk of misleading the public
- A government sign included in the mark
- Being offensive by society’s definition of morality.
