Starting a business is something that many people aspire to do within their lifetime. Something to call yours and be able to say that you created from the start. As you start a business, there are a lot of things to think about in order to create your brand. You want your brand to be easily identifiable and memorable for your consumers. Any ideas that you come up with for your business are considered intellectual property. These ideas that have taken your time to come up with can be trademarked. This allows you to protect your brand through trademarks, making it so others cannot use your ideas for themselves. The intellectual property used to identify your brand is yours, and if trademarked, is protected. When you start a business, your time, effort, and money go into it so be sure that you are getting the trademarks you need.

What Is a Trademark?

There are certain kinds of things that are used to identify your brand that can be trademarked including:

Symbols

You may have a symbol that is used to identify your brand and that can be trademarked. An example of a symbol could be the logo that is used to represent your business or any other kind of symbol. Any form of a symbol that makes your brand identifiable by your consumers.

Sounds

Creating a tune, sound, or a couple of notes that are used to advertise your brand can be trademarked. A common way to incorporate sound into identifying your brand is through jingles. Sounds that are used to identify your brand and make it memorable.

Slogan

When advertising your goods or services to consumers, you may choose to use a particular set of words for your brand. This could be a phrase or a sentence. Most of the time it is to the point, clever, and short. The words that you choose should help identify what your business does. A slogan is able to be trademarked so your brand is the only one to use it.

Each of these categories is able to be trademarked individually but it can also be used as a combination of symbols, sounds, and slogans. You can trademark a combination of the categories that are used to identify your brand.

Why Are Trademarks Necessary?

When you come up with a sound, slogan, or symbol that is used to identify your brand it becomes your intellectual property. It is what makes your brand unique and allows your consumers to be able to easily identify it. Once you have these ideas, you want to protect them. Getting a trademark for your intellectual property makes it so others within your industry are not able to use your ideas. This ensures that consumers within your industry cannot get confused by other businesses using your ideas that identify it. If your ideas are trademarked and another business is using your trademarks, you are able to take legal action against them. You will be able to file a lawsuit against any business that infringes on your trademark. Trademarks are to protect your intellectual property that is used to identify your brand so others cannot use them.

Can I Avoid Getting a Trademark?

You are not required to get trademarks for your intellectual property. But at Beard St. Clair Gaffney we strongly encourage you to trademark your intellectual property. You may think that it is a long process that may not be worth your time but we assure you that it is. Operating your business without trademarks on your sounds, symbols, and slogans means that at any point another business could start using your brand identifiers. If these ideas are not trademarked, you cannot stop another business from using them since you do not have ownership over them. This also means that this business that has started using your ideas to identify its brand could apply for a trademark with your ideas. Unfortunately, whoever applies for a trademark first will be granted ownership of the ideas even if you came up with them. Getting trademarks for your intellectual property is the best way to protect your brand.

How To Apply for A Trademark?

Once you have decided what you are going to use to identify your brand you should consider applying for a trademark. The first step is to make sure that what you are wanting to trademark is able to be trademarked. Knowing that it can be trademarked, you will need to check that your idea has not already been applied for or trademarked previously. Now that you know that your idea is able to be trademarked and has not been trademarked before, you will declare what field of business your trademark will be used. After that, you will complete your application and submit it through the Trademark Electronic Application System. They will make sure that your idea is trademarkable and has not already been trademarked. Then it will be decided if your trademark will be granted to you and your ideas will officially be your intellectual property.

Why Beard St. Clair Gaffney?

We know that starting a business can be a wonderful but also overwhelming time. We want to help you protect your business and the ideas that help identify it. At Beard St. Clair Gaffney, our team is well experienced and has the knowledge to help you with all of your trademark needs. We are able to help each step of the way such as figuring out whether your ideas are worth trademarking, the application process, and fighting any trademark infringements. We know the importance of the ideas that are used to advertise your brand because it allows your consumers to identify and remember your business. Let us help you protect your trademarks which protect your business. Please call us with any questions that you may have. Wherever you are on your trademark journey, we are happy to help you in any way we can. We are well versed in trademark law and want to help you enjoy the beginning of your business.