Now is the Time to Trademark: Your Business Depends On It

A recent article entitled We’re Running Out of Brands by Jack Trout highlights the importance of branding, and more specifically, a trademark for that brand.  If you don’t believe Jack Trout, you may want to look at the quotes he includes (internal hyperlinks removed):

A booklet from Johnson & Johnson says: "Our company's name and trademarks are by far our most valuable assets."

The former chairman of Quaker Oats says: "If this business were to be split up, I would be glad to take the brands, trademarks and goodwill, and you could have all the bricks and mortar--and I would fare better than you."

A former commissioner of the Patent and Trademark Office said that a trademark is "frequently a more valuable asset of a business than all other assets combined."

The article also stresses how difficult it is to generate a company name, brand name, or product name.  This is yet further confirmation that a trademark is more than a filing with the USPTO, more than a small ™ or ® symbol, and more than just another marketing expense.  A trademark, and the goodwill associated therewith, are truly your business.  As such, you need to budget accordingly.  An experienced trademark attorney who handle trademark availability searches, trademark filings, trademark matters in front of the TTAB, and trademark litigation is a must.  Trademarks are intellectual property that must be considered when a company changes hands, when a domain name is registered or used by a third party, and when identifying licensing and other revenue generating options.  Simply put, no matter what your business, an understanding of trademarks and trademark law is a must.

This article could not be clearer – there is no time to wait.  You could be sacrificing your opportunity of developing a valuable brand or missing out on the benefits afforded to a trademark owner when it comes time to protect it.  Contact us today to handle all of your trademark matters.   

Comments

[Enrico S.]

Brian: Great post. It amazes me how many companies spend so much money launching an on-line or e-commerce business without doing a comprehensive trade or service mark availability search. Just because the domain name is available for registration or purchase does NOT mean that the name is available as a brand name. Companies with prior trademark rights are waiting in the wings to send threat letters and file lawsuits which may shut your web site down.

Any company creating a new brand, web site or domain name should spend some time and money making sure they will not have to re-brand, re-launch or worse before launch. We see companies all the time looking at 6 figure liability because they failed to spend a couple of thousand on the front end to ensure their brand was viable.

[We’re Running Out of Brands!]

It is very challenging to find a brand that has both domain name and trademark clearance. Not only that, but it is no longer just the US trademark and patent office you need to worry about. Because web sites are global, US mark clearance is sometimes not enough.

Finding a domain and brand takes time. Good marketing companies who help select brand names for a company often partner with attorneys who specialize in trademark issues to try and get it right the first time. Spend some money at the front end. It will be far less than the transactional costs of re-branding later because some says you are cybersquatting on their prior trademark rights.