As a creative business owner, you may have wondered if you need a trademark. What exactly are trademarks? Will a trademark protect your brand? Should you register for trademark protection? How can you start the trademark process?

We answer those questions in this general overview of key components of trademark law.

Trademark Registration Process Steps

Registering your trademark involves:

1. Submitting an application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
2. An examiner will review your application.
3. The USPTO will either approve your trademark or send you an Office Action you must respond to.

To learn more about the general trademark process timeline or what to do if you receive an office action, check out this overview for the registration process. This video explains how we can help you.

Protecting Your Trademark

However, if you successfully register your trademark, the work does not stop there. You still have to protect the mark. To do this, you will have to take various steps, such as:

• Monitoring other trademark applications
• Promptly addressing potential trademark infringements.
• Maintaining trademark registrations
• Working with legal counsel

Be sure to understand how you protect your trademark registration by reading our recent post explaining each of these steps so that you can protect your brand.

Trademark monitoring is a great way to protect your trademark. This involves monitoring other trademark applications, search engine results, social media platforms, other websites, and more. Through this monitoring, you will be able to catch any infringements on your trademark rights. The USPTO registers trademarks, but it does not enforce them. Therefore, monitoring and enforcing your rights falls on you. If you do find any potential infringements, it is crucial to actively address them so that others know that you will enforce your trademark rights.

The application process and maintenance requirements can become complex. Staying on top of protecting your trademark can be overwhelming. This is why working with a law firm with trademark expertise can be helpful. If you have other business endeavors to focus your time and energy on, consider what a knowledgeable trademark attorney can do to ease your burdens.

The Benefits of Trademark Registration

Trademark registration is an investment. If you are starting your business, you may be wondering if it is a worthwhile investment to make. In short: the benefits you will reap far surpass the initial cost. Holding a trademark registration allows you to:

1. Be awarded money by the court if you have to sue a trademark infringer
2. Have “national priority,” thereby being protected all across the country
3. Expand your business worldwide by opening paths to get a valid registration in foreign countries
4. Keeping others on notice of your trademark rights, so another company won’t use a mark that confuses your customers.
5. Prevent counterfeits by blocking importations at the US border.

There are many hurdles your business may face down the road. Because of this, having a trademark registration can prevent future issues ahead of time.

Trademarks vs. Copyrights

When speaking on trademark registration benefits, we also need to address how a trademark is different from a copyright. Trademark and copyright are not the same. Copyright protection only applies to tangible products, such as photos, artworks, and books. Copyright law protects creators from someone else copying their work. Trademarks, on the other hand, protect your brand – the identity of your company. Having a strong brand builds reputation and customer loyalty. So having trademark protection can be huge for your business’ success.

Think about some of the biggest companies in the world and their efforts to protect their brands. Most recently, Nike sued Lil Nas X for its use of the unofficial ‘Satan’ Nikes. Nike immediately took legal action against Lil Nas X to prevent the public from being confused that it authorized Lil Nas X to use its mark in the controversial shoes.

What to Avoid

With how much trademark protection can help your business, trademark mistakes can significantly hurt you. We have compiled a list of costly trademark mistakes to avoid, with one big mistake being not running a proper trademark search.

A trademark search is crucial for many reasons. This search will allow you to find similar marks that might be confused for your intended mark. If you find any similar marks, you can anticipate potential reasons the USPTO may reject trademark application (since your mark cannot be too similar to an existing mark).

You can prepare for responses to those rejections ahead of time. Even if the USPTO allows your trademark, another trademark owner may oppose your trademark if they deem it too similar to their own mark. Anticipating potential trademark conflicts can prevent you from having to rebranding later. Conducting a thorough trademark search before applying mitigates all these issues that can pile up.

Do not try to do it all yourself

This mistake, and many others, stem from the biggest, cardinal mistake of trademark: trying to do it all yourself. A business owner may understand trademarks rather well, but there are pitfalls that trademark attorneys are familiar with and can expertly deal with. Sometimes, DIY services can seem like enough help for business owners, but they only really aid on surface-level work, such as filing paperwork. An expert can provide legal advice and insight into picking a strong trademark, choosing the correct trademark class, and how to enforce your trademark rights.

For example, there are laws governing trademarks that you will want to be informed about as you choose your mark. The USPTO has denied trademarks under the Lanham Act. Marks are most commonly rejected when they are confusingly similar to another mark if the mark is merely descriptive or too general. Some legal issues have even made their way up to the Supreme Court, such as the 2017 Supreme Court decision regarding the mark “The Slants.” In this decision, the Supreme Court agreed with the applicant, stating that the term was not immoral or offensive and that the USPTO’s ruling conflicted with First Amendment rights. An attorney can guide you around laws to ensure you do not face the issue of immoral trademarks.

On top of all that, you definitely want to avoid trademark scams. A lot of scammers target trademark applicants with official-looking letters. See our trademark scams guide for identifying scams, protecting yourself, and what you should do if you have paid money to scammers.

Trademark Costs

Our Trademark Cost Guidebook dives into all trademark costs, like fees from the USPTO, filing service fees, and attorney fees.

The USPTO fees can range from $225-$400. Generally, though, be prepared to pay $275 for each application class. Additional costs can come from different applications, like an intent to use trademark application or trademark maintenance costs like filing a Section 8 Declaration of Continued Use and Section 15 Declaration of Incontestability.

Trademark attorney rates also vary, with the typical costs ranging between $225 on the low end and over $500 on the high end. Trademark registration services can have a flat rate ranging between $750 to $3000 if they handle everything from trademark search to registration.

The Trademark Cost Guidebook will discuss all the places you might incur costs, so you can judge where to spend your money and weigh how much it would cost your business NOT to register your trademark.