Why should anyone register a trademark? We see many brand names in our lives through the media on a daily basis. What are the benefits of a registered trademark, or what are the risks of not having one? You need to register a trademark, because it is the legal method to officially protect a brand name, logo or phrase used on a product/service anywhere in the United States.
Registering your trademark is the quickest and most cost-effective way to ensure legal exclusivity for the use of your name or logo. It significantly reduces the risk of being prevented from using your trademark by other people.
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Risks of Not Having a Trademark Registration:
If you don't file and register a trademark, then someone else may register a similar trademark in the meantime, making it hard or impossible for you to get registration in the future. One of the most emotionally draining and expensive things that can happen to anyone who owns a trademark brand is to receive a "cease and desist" letter from a lawyer telling you to stop using the name which you thought you owned. Registering your trademark shows the public that you own the trademark and have exclusive rights to it.
In addition, you can create rights in a trademark by using it in commerce. However, these common law rights have limitations. First, it can be difficult for someone to know whether you exist and have rights to a particular trademark without registration. Someone can innocently start to use a similar name or logo because they have no knowledge about your trademark.
The Benefits of Trademark Registration:
Trademark registration benefits both businesses and consumers. As a business, a registered trademark protects your name and logo in today's confusing and tough market conditions. A trademark not only protects you from having someone using your name, but most importantly a trademark also prevents anyone from having a similar name within the same industry. As a result, a trademark allows you to create a clear identity and reputation of your product and/or service with customers.
Trademarks also allow consumers to be better buyers by empowering them with the ability to distinguish brand products. This ensures that they can repeat their purchases of brands they liked and avoiding brands they didn't like.
Owning a trademark registration provides several important advantages, including notice to the public of the registrant's claim of ownership of the trademark, a legal presumption of ownership, and the exclusive right to use the trademark on or in connection with the goods or services set forth in the registration.
Advantages of a Trademark:
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Exclusive Rights to a Trademark Owner
Upon registering your trademark name, the government grants trademark owners the right to exclude all other businesses and individuals from using a similar trademark on related goods or services. Therefore, you, as an owner of the trademark, have the exclusive right and ownership to use the trademark in your business trade.
In plain English, this means that you can legally stop someone from using a similar trademark.
Your Trademark will Appear in Public Databases
When you file and register a trademark it will appear in the trademark database. Generally, a company would do a trademark search prior to filing a trademark application. If your trademark appears in the public database, then it prevents others from using and filing similar trademarks. This helps you save time, money and the legal hassle of defending your trademark rights against infringes.
Ability to Bring a Lawsuit in court
The owner of a trademark registration has an easier ability to bring a lawsuit in court against any party who infringes their respected trademark. In some cases, the owner may even obtain monetary compensation for their losses. It is possible to recover an infringement monetary award of three times your actual damages, plus attorney fees, and doing so is only possible with a registration.
