Trademarking your brand is a smart business decision. Knowing how to get the most out of it is just as important.

You are responsible for using and maintaining your trademarks. You want to keep it in good standing at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. You’ll also want to take the steps needed to get the most out of it. Here’s how.   

1. Announce Your Registration to the World
2. Start Using the Trademark Symbol
3. Look for Copycats
4. Consider Foreign Trademark Protection
5. Periodically Check New Filings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
6. Keep Your Application Alive
7. Register your mark with U.S. Customs and Border Protection  

Announce Your Registration to the World

Trademark registration conveys stability, scale, and, most importantly, credibility. Don’t keep it a secret! Plus, you’ve worked hard to register your trademark – celebrate it. Publicize your achievement by:

• Posting on social media sites like Facebook®, Instagram®, LinkedIn®, and Twitter®, and;
• Writing a blog post;
• Issuing a press release;
• Sending out an email to your subscribers; and
• Mentioning your award in your newsletter. Creating awareness about your trademark registration very well might result in a bump in sales too!

Start Using the Trademark Symbol

You should add the ® symbol to the upper right corner of your mark wherever it is used. This includes on social media and especially your website. This lets the world know that your brand is protected nationally by Federal law.

It also makes it easier to show that someone intentionally copied your mark and get money damages.

Beware: Only Federal trademarks that have been granted an official registration certificate by the USPTO should use the ®. 

Trademark Protection Means Looking for Copycats

As a trademark owner, you need to find and stop copycats. Otherwise, you could lose your trademark rights. While the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will prevent others from registering similar marks, it does not get involved with enforcement.

You’ll need to search for trademark infringement by checking for similar brands selling like products or services.

The best way to do this is with Internet searches. Some trademark owners set up “Google Alerts” to automate this process.

If you do see a similar brand, for similar products or services, you’ll want to have a trademark law firm prepare and send a trademark cease + desist letter.

Consider Foreign Trademark Protection

If you do business abroad, you can use your U.S. registration as a basis to obtain a registration in foreign countries. Consider Canada, China, the European Union, and Japan.

Periodically Check New Filings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

The trademarking process is not perfect. The USPTO can make a mistake and approve a trademark that is too close to yours. If you discover a mistake, you have the option to oppose the registration of the new trademark. Talk with your trademark attorney.Often, applicants retreat at the first notice of an intent to oppose. 

Keep Your Trademark Alive

Trademarks may never expire – if you “check-in” with U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at specific times to let them know that you are still using your trademark.These dates are listed on your registration certificate.

• The first renewal is due between the 5th and 6th year after the date of registration;
• The second renewal is due between the 9th and 10th year after registration; and
• The third and all subsequent renewals are due every ten years thereafter. These dates are important. If the documents are not filed timely, your registration will be canceled and cannot be revived or reinstated.

Watch Out for Scammers

There are private companies that try to impersonate the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to scam people into paying fees to them. They often use names and terms like “United States,” “U.S.,” “Trademark,” “Patent,” “Registration,” “Office,” or “Agency” to make their solicitations look like official government documents. These solicitations are scams and have no connection with the USPTO. Unfortunately, this practice continues after registration. So, be sure to read trademark-related communications carefully before deciding to pay.

All official correspondence will be from the “United States Patent and Trademark Office” in Alexandria, VA, and if by email, specifically from the domain “@uspto.gov.” 

Register your mark with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

If you are worried about cheap and/or inferior quality knock-offs hurting your brand, you can ask the CBP, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, to stop the importation of goods that infringe your Federal trademark. The CBP stops over $1 billion of infringing goods every year. The top seized commodities included apparel, accessories, consumer electronics, and pharmaceuticals.

Michael Kondoudis

For more than twenty years, Michael Kondoudis has been the go-to trademarking expert for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Michael is a USPTO-licensed trademark and patent attorney, educator, speaker, and author of the Amazon best-seller: Going From Business Owner to Brand Owner. He is also an authority trusted by national news media on major trademark stories.

Fun Facts: Michael is a member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court and an actual rocket scientist (B.S. Astronomy and Astrophysics, Indiana University 1994).

www.mekiplaw.com

Your brand matters. After all, your brand is WHO you are, WHAT you do, and WHY you do it. Remember – people are loyal to brands, not products.

Trademarks protect brands. They are the foundation of every successful brand. That’s why it is important to trademark your brand.

The single best way to protect your brand is with a Federal trademark.

Here are seven practical reasons why you need to get a Federal trademark for your brand.

1. You’ll Enjoy Enhanced Protection on Social Media
2. You’ll Enjoy Enhanced Protection on the Web
3. You’ll Have Access to Brand Registries Like Amazon’s Brand Registry
4. You’ll be Able to Invest in Your Brand with Confidence
5. You’ll Stand Out in a Crowd With the ®
6. You’ll Enjoy Better Social Media Results
7. You’ll Enjoy Some Instant Credibility

          Bonus Reason: You’ll Make Your Marketing Easier and Less Expensive

Reason #1 to Trademark Your Brand — You’ll Enjoy Enhanced Protection on Social Media

Social media services like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have policies in place to protect brands against abuse – provided that you can establish ownership. A Federal trademark makes establishing ownership a mere formality.

Reason #2 to Trademark Your Brand — You’ll Enjoy Enhanced Protection on the Web

A trademark is an exclusive right to use your name or logo. This means you’re the only one who can use it in your industry. When you secure a domain that includes your trademark, all of the legal protections and presumptions that accompany Federal trademarks apply to your web address.

Reason #3 to Trademark Your Brand — You’ll Have Access to Brand Registries Like Amazon’s Brand Registry

The Amazon Brand Registry is an important and powerful brand protection tool. When you enroll, Amazon will look for and stop trademark violations. Amazon’s Brand Registry is limited to Federal trademarks, however.

Reason #4 to Trademark Your Brand — You’ll Can Invest in Your Brand with Confidence

Trademarking your brand gives you the exclusive and nationwide right to use it for your brand.  This means you won’t risk having to rebrand. So, you can confidently invest in your website, business cards, and marketing.

Reason #5 to Trademark Your Brand — You’ll Stand Out in a Crowd With the ®

Only owners of Federally registered trademarks are legally permitted to use the ® sign. This symbol is an attention grabber, in both the offline and online worlds.

Reason #6 to Trademark Your Brand — You’ll Enjoy Better Social Media Results

Customers are searching, tagging, and commenting on brands using Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram more than ever. A memorable trademark translates into greater visibility, which translates into higher rankings that bring more traffic, more customers, and more brand recognition.

Reason #7 to Trademark Your Brand — You’ll Enjoy Some Instant Credibility

Only Federal trademark registration gives you the legal right to use the ® symbol, which tells the world that you take your business and brand seriously. Plus, the ® has been shown to validate the confidence your customers want to have in you. Every company (young or old) can do with some instant credibility, right?

Bonus Reason: You’ll Make Your Marketing Easier and Less Expensive

Science confirms that humans are hardwired to process information visually. Studies have shown that humans have evolved to receive 90% of all information visually. That’s “a picture is worth a 1000 words” and why trademarks matter. They are the single best way to incorporate visual marketing in both the online and offline worlds.

Why wouldn’t you protect your good name and hard work?

Building a business that proudly offers quality products takes enormous amounts of hard work, dedication, and courage. The effective branding of those products also takes valuable time and creativity. Doesn’t it just seem right to protect that effort and investment? After all, think of the sales you might lose if another company opened up using your same name.

Plus, rebranding will be expensive

At some point, you might face a challenge from a competitor over your brand. If you don’t take the necessary steps to clear and register your trademarks, you could find yourself in a battle that you don’t want to fight. Rebranding is a nightmare that can be avoided by thinking ahead and acting earlier rather than later.

In the end, it comes down to this:

If you’re serious about your business and your brand, then you need to protect them. A Federal trademark registration is the single best way to do that.

Michael Kondoudis

For more than twenty years, Michael Kondoudis has been the go-to trademarking expert for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Michael is a USPTO-licensed trademark and patent attorney, educator, speaker, and author of the Amazon best-seller: Going From Business Owner to Brand Owner. He is also an authority trusted by national news media on major trademark stories.

Fun Facts: Michael is a member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court and an actual rocket scientist (B.S. Astronomy and Astrophysics, Indiana University 1994).

www.mekiplaw.com

Your brand matters. After all, your brand is WHO you are, WHAT you do, and WHY you do it. Remember – people are loyal to brands, not products.

Trademarks protect brands. They are the foundation of every successful brand. That’s why it is important to trademark your brand.

The single best way to protect your brand is with a Federal trademark.

Here are seven legal reasons why you need to get a Federal trademark for your brand.

1. They Put the Federal Government to Work for You Protecting Your Brand
2. They Come with Nationwide Protection
3. They Deter Copycats
4. They Make Protecting Your Brand Easier
5. They Lead to More (and Repeat) Sales
6. They Make Foreign Registrations Possible
7. They Can Continue Indefinitely
8. They Make Protecting Your Brand Easier

          Bonus Reason: They are Property With Real Monetary Value

Reason #1 to Trademark Your Brand — They Put the Federal Government to Work for You 

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will immediately begin rejecting

applications for trademarks that are similar to yours. In fact, the USPTO is legally required to refuse them. You can even ask the Department of Homeland Security to look for infringements at the border!

Reason #2 to Trademark Your Brand — Nationwide Protection

A Federal trademark comes with the legal presumptions of your ownership of your trademark in all 50 States, along with an exclusive right to use it and access to Federal courts to protect it.

Reason #3 to Trademark Your Brand — They Deter Copycats

Registration adds your mark to the Federal trademark database, where it will be found by competitors searching for new names. They will have strong incentives to steer far clear of your Federal rights, or risk having to rebrand.

Reason #4 to Trademark Your Brand — They Make Protecting It Easier

Your Federal registration will allow you to bring an action in Federal court for money damages. The threat of this potential legal option alone often causes infringers to stop.  In this way, a Federal registration makes it much easier, quicker, and cheaper for you to prevent competitors from using conflicting trademarks.

Reason #5 to Trademark Your Brand — They Lead to More (and Repeat) Sales

Trademarks help customers find the products and services that they like. This helps make them repeat customers, especially for e-commerce businesses. Also, trademarks help customers recommend products and services to their friends. This is free marketing.

Reason #6 to Trademark Your Brand — They Make Foreign Registrations Possible

A Federal trademark can be used to secure trademark protection in foreign countries like Canada, China, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

Reason #7 to Trademark Your Brand — They Can Continue Indefinitely

Your Federal trademark registration may not expire as long as it is used in “interstate commerce” and certain filings are periodically made. In fact, some of the most recognized brands in the United States today have been registered for over a hundred years. Mercedes, for example, was first registered in 1900. Pepsi-Cola was registered in 1896.

Bonus Reason: They are Property Worth $

Federal trademarks are property.  They are the way you monetize a brand. The more your business reputation grows, the more valuable your brand can become. Federal trademarks can be bought, sold, licensed (like renting or leasing) or used as a security interest to secure a loan to grow your business.

Why wouldn’t you protect your good name and hard work?

Building a business that proudly offers quality products takes enormous amounts of hard work, dedication, and courage. The effective branding of those products also takes valuable time and creativity. Doesn’t it just seem right to protect that effort and investment? After all, think of the sales you might lose if another company opened up using your same name.

Plus, rebranding will be expensive

At some point, you might face a challenge from a competitor over your brand. If you don’t take the necessary steps to clear and register your trademarks, you could find yourself in a battle that you don’t want to fight. Rebranding is a nightmare that can be avoided by thinking ahead and acting earlier rather than later.

In the end, it comes down to this:

If you’re serious about your business and your brand, then you need to protect them. A Federal trademark registration is the single best way to do that.

Michael Kondoudis

For more than twenty years, Michael Kondoudis has been the go-to trademarking expert for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Michael is a USPTO-licensed trademark and patent attorney, educator, speaker, and author of the Amazon best-seller: Going From Business Owner to Brand Owner. He is also an authority trusted by national news media on major trademark stories.

Fun Facts: Michael is a member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court and an actual rocket scientist (B.S. Astronomy and Astrophysics, Indiana University 1994).

www.mekiplaw.com