Ever watched football? Of course, you probably have. Now here’s a brief illustration of a trademark using that. 

In a game of football, you would notice that every player has their name written on the back of their shirt. This is a form of identifier. It helps commentators, referees, and even the excited fans identify and address the players. 

Another thing you would notice about a football game is that players take the time to celebrate their goals. Goal celebrations could take any form. However, every big player typically performs their own unique celebration. They repeat this every time they score a goal. In fact, they do it so much that it becomes a signature move. 

Now let’s imagine that a football player represents a physical business. The player's name would be the company’s trade name. On the other hand, the player’s signature move would be the company’s trademark. But just because a player performs a particular move to celebrate their goal doesn’t mean that other players cannot perform the same. That is why businesses need to protect their trademark. It gives them all the rights to the trademark and prevents other businesses from using it. 

What is a Trademark?

A trademark is a property - including a trade name - that functions as an identifier of a business’s brand. It basically differentiates the products and services of one company from those of other companies

Trademarks can take any form. Two very common types of them are trade names and logos. Other properties that could serve as a trademark are names of products and services, a trade dress, a sound or even a popular phrase used by a business. Ordinarily, a trademark only serves as an identifier. However, once registered, the same trademark becomes an asset to the company. 

Benefits of Protecting Your Trademark

Trademarks may be tangible properties like a trade dress or intangible properties like a slogan or a sound. Having any of these would prove beneficial to your business. Nevertheless, the most benefits come from protecting all your trademarks. Here’s what you stand to gain when you do so:

• The public becomes aware that your business owns the registered trademark. 
• You get pronounced rights to use your products and services.
• Your business can better claim incontestability.
• Customers or clients find it easier to reach you. 
• Investors have more trust in your business. 
• Your business can operate in a wider range of locations. 
• Your business valuation increases exponentially.

How Much Does It Cost To Trademark? 

Chances are that you had an idea - at least a faint one - of the benefits of having a trademark. One question that might come to mind then is “how much does it cost to trademark a name?”

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), filing for a trademark can be done through the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS). The TEAS Plus filing option costs $250 while the TEAS Standard option costs $350. 

Businesses in the UK will have their trademarks registered by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). As per the agency website, the cost of doing this is at least £170. 

How To Protect Your Trademark

Protecting a trademark is an essential part of creating one. That being the case, we will list out four steps to guide you in creating and protecting your business trademark.

1. Find Out What Kinds of Trademarks are Recognized in Your Business Region

Not every region recognizes the same kinds of trademarks. What this means, for example, is that one country might allow businesses to register everything from a logo to a slogan, whereas another country might not allow the registration of a trademark slogan. Business owners need to know about this. It helps them decide on what options they have as long as creating a trademark is concerned.

2. Curate a List of Trademarks Based on Your Findings 

As we have mentioned, the first step in creating a trademark is to find out what kinds of trademarks are recognized in your business region. After this, business owners have to go through their findings. They would then curate a list of recognized trademarks which they wish to develop. If your business region only recognizes four kinds of trademarks, you have to pick the ones that you need for your business. 

This is as simple as ticking a list. Alternatively, you can write the recognized trademarks on one sheet of paper and then also write out your preferred trademarks on a separate sheet. Remember that there’s no harm in choosing to develop all the kinds of trademarks recognized in your business region. However, you must be sure that your business has the capacity to develop and protect all its trademarks. 

3. Develop Your Desired Trademark Property

A new business may have an idea for its trade name and business logo. However, they may not have a trade dress. If they find out that this trademark property is recognized in their region, they can simply add it to their list of desired trademarks. Once they do this, the next step will be to develop each desired trademark. 

The two stages of developing a trademark are:

1. Asking the right questions: Businesses should ask questions like “what trade dress would be unique for our services?”, “should our trademark slogan feature our motto or trade name?”, “how easy would it be to advertise or promote the company’s trademarks?” In addition to this, businesses can ask team members or stakeholders to contribute their ideas for a chosen trademark.
2. Actually developing the trademark: At this point, all that’s left to do is to develop your trademark properties. If you receive 5 suggestions for a trademark slogan, you can pick the most appealing one or try combining two or more to produce something even better. You can also approach a graphic designer to create a business logo or reach out to a music producer to create a trademark sound. The trademark which you end up developing must stand out from existing trademarks. Furthermore, it must cover a commercial purpose. 

4. Register Your Trademark

Registering your trademark is the only effective way to protect it. It also forms a crucial part of a trademark creation process. To go about this final step, you would need to approach the trademark registration agency in your region. Examples of such institutions are the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the UK’s Intellectual Property Office listed above. 

Every trademark application must include two things. The first of these is the trademark to be registered. Secondly, the application must include a list of all the goods or services which the trademark would cover. 

A trademark registration agency would search for similarities between an existing trademark and a new application. If close similarities are found, the agency would reject the new application. Certain other issues would also lead to a rejected application. Examples include:

1. Offensive or unauthorized trademark content: Your business trademark should not contain pornographic, racial or other offensive content. It would also be turned down if you make use of unauthorized content like national flags. 
2. Poor or false description of a brand: Trademarks that fail to properly describe a brand’s product or services do not make it beyond the application stage. An example is the word “fruity fruits” for a fruit retail business. In a similar manner, trademark registration agencies reject applications that include false descriptions of a brand. An instance of this would be saying that your products are organic when they really aren’t.

Once a business successfully registers its trademark, its market valuation skyrockets and investors become more likely to engage with it. The simple reason is that a registered trademark is an asset. It is a proof of legitimacy showing that a company is operating under legal authorization. 

Conclusion 

With all the specifics about creating a brand that speaks for itself, you might be wondering “just how much time does it take to register a trademark? Well, the UK’s IPO claims that it could take around 3 to 4 months but businesses in the U.S might see themselves waiting between 12 and 18 months for the same. This long waiting period can prove frustrating. However, having a solid brand is worth all the time. And talking about time, Epirus Ventures is open to giving round the clock guidance to new businesses and founders. You can also check out our blog for more insightful topics. 

‍