Where to Start with Trademarking

You’ve done your research on how to trademark for your business, what where should you start?

As you embark on your trademark journey, you’ll find very helpful information on the steps necessary to trademark, but where should you begin? Knowing what you can trademark may not be helpful if you don’t know what you should trademark. You should start with your brand’s most critical marks and expand from there with the help of a seasoned trademark attorney.

Start with the Most Essential Trademarks

A phrase, word, symbol, device, or even a color are all eligible for a trademark. Anything that distinguishes the goods of your party or company from another qualifies. When deciding where to start, think about the most crucial pieces of your branding. In many cases, this will be the name of your business or a major product or service. Because filing for a trademark includes a preliminary search before submitting the application, your business name is beneficial. A thorough trademark search, which is best done by a seasoned trademark attorney, will determine whether the application you want to file will be rejected by a previously registered trademark or another comparable mark already in use in your industry. This analysis will not only help you avoid possible infringements, but it will also allow you to avoid generating equity in a brand or company name that will need to be changed.

Expand to Other Key Elements

After you've secured a trademark for your company name and major services or products, you'll want to focus on the other components of your branding. This can include a logo or tagline that you can use on your company site, in marketing, or in any other position that enables customers to identify your company and brand. Because logos may serve as your brand's most unique form of identification, it's critical that you protect it with a trademark registration. Design searches are an important element of the logo filing process because they ensure that your logo is truly distinctive and won't be confused with any other brand.

Slogans are an essential part of many companies' marketing. Any important terms you utilize, especially those that buyers connect with your products, should be trademarked. Effective slogans are usually short and unique, catching the audience's attention and establishing a relationship to your company. In this way, a trademarked phrase must be unique, and it also cannot be too general for the services it promotes.

How Do I Start?

In the end, powerful trademarks may have a dramatic impact on your brand's customer recognition and therefore your profitability. Enlist the help of a trademark attorney to ensure that you are trademarking the right aspects of the business in addition to drafting and filing the applications, attorneys can conduct essential trademark searches, offer insightful advice on next steps, and give your application the best possible chance of success.