Let’s start with the basic fact that, if you don’t register your own trademark, it makes it possible for someone else to do so. This is a big risk for your business and developing your products or services. By having a registered trademark, your brand is secure, and you can stop anyone from abusing your business and using similar signage. Even worse, failing to register a trademark may end up legally stopping you from expanding your business.
When you register a trademark, you can take legal action against anyone who tries to hinder your success, and prevent any damage that may be done to your business. Furthermore, a protection of this kind increases your brand’s value. In this article, we are going to discuss some of the essential reasons why you simply need to register a trademark.
What can you register?
When it comes what you can register a trademark for, it can basically be any combo of words, names, and symbols that separate your products or services from others. In the case of services, they are often called service marks, but they are basically the same as trademarks. There is a variety of other things related to your products or services that you can protect. This includes packaging or product color, and so on. These features are known as trade dress. However, if their essence is only functional, you cannot protect them. For example, you cannot register the shape of the bottles you produce just because they are made to have a better grip.
Nationwide priority
If you federally register your trademark, you own the right to grow your business into other regions of the country, so that you can do your business there as well. Without a federal registration, if you have only used your trademark in a couple of countries, it could very easily happen that someone else decides to file an application and register the same trademark in countries where you didn’t register, even if you already have been using your trademark for a while.
Proper legal protection
Registering your trademark provides you with proper protection, in terms that five years after you have done it, it can be legally acknowledged as incontestable. What this means is that only you have the rights to use it, and you can defend your claim over it in court. Furthermore, it enables you to collect 3x the damages and attorney fees if you win the case. It is also a fact that this way, your mark instantly becomes a matter of federal jurisdiction, so you can bring your case to the federal court instead of the state court. This comes with many benefits, some of them being federal judges that are going to be on the bench.
An asset against cybersquatters
The Internet is full of cybersquatters who won’t hesitate to try and register your trademark as a domain name in order to drive your traffic away from you and to their websites. Without a proper registration of your trademark, it becomes a lot harder to ascertain who the rightful owner of that particular domain name is. Federal registration can place a hold on your domain name until the case is resolved, be it via arbitration or by a court. This makes sure that the value of your trademark is preserved.
Improved business value
As we all know, the competition that you face out there as a company, no matter what your industry is, is huge. When your brand and business have a trademark, your customer base will recognize you much more easily. Furthermore, a trademark that is registered is basically an untouchable asset for your business. When you’ve got a ® symbol, it means that your business has legitimacy, and people will acknowledge it. On the other hand, according to trademark registration Australia based professionals, if you ever decide to sell your company, the registered trademark can actually significantly boost your selling price.
Presence in public databases
Finally, another important reason why you should register a trademark is because once you have done so, it will appear in public databases. In most cases, companies do federal trademark searches before they decide to register a particular trademark. The reason is that if your trademark is in there, it makes sure that no one else can use or apply for a similar mark. What this does is save you money, time, and a lot of legal commotion of having to protect your trademark against an infringer.
In summation
Basically, registering a trademark is a certain way to protect yourself from infringement from competition or malicious individuals who would want to harm your business. It provides you with nationwide priority, meaning that you can expand your business, and boosts your company’s legitimacy and value. Finally, if the matter does reach the court, you can collect a lot more money on damages when you win the case.
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