Although there are a number of trademark registration benefits, not everyone understands what they are. That’s why we are here to help by explaining what we feel are the five most important trademark benefits. While trademark registration can seem like a bit of an investment when just starting your business, the benefits far exceed the cost.
A trademark offers benefits in building and growing a unified brand.
What Are The Five Main Trademark Registration Benefits?
You do get some trademark registration benefits when you begin using your trademark, but the real benefits come after you have received a trademark registration.
- You can get more damages and attorney fees: In certain cases where you have to sue a trademark infringer, the court has the ability to award you (if you are the winner of the case) attorney fees and treble damages. That can be a significant amount of money, and your trademark registration is the thing that allows that to happen.
- You get national priority: “National priority” is a simple but important concept – it means that even if you used your trademark only in a few places (say Chicago and Cincinnati), your trademark registration extends protection across the country. While unregistered trademarks get priority (and therefore protection) in only the places that they were used, registered trademarks get protection all across the country.
- It can help you go worldwide: If you are looking to expand your business outside of the United States, your trademark registration can actually help you get a valid registration in a foreign country.
- Other people will be on notice: Likelihood of confusion is one of the cornerstones of trademark law – in that you want to avoid using or registering a trademark that might be confused with an existing trademark. So that means that when someone is looking to register a trademark and finds your trademark, they might seek to use a different mark. Your registration puts the world on notice of your trademark rights.
- You can block importations at the border: Once you have a registered trademark, you can record it with the United States Customs & Border Protection (CBP). By doing so, you can get CBP on your side to prevent counterfeiters from using your brand.
- BONUS – You can get social media accounts using your trademark shut down: In some cases, you can get social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram to shut down accounts and pages that use your trademark without permission.
Although it may seem like a hurdle to get a trademark registration, the benefits are great. This is why smart business owners often choose to work with a trademark attorney to make sure that everything goes well and that you get all of the trademark registration benefits that you can.
Since your trademark can often become your company’s single most valuable asset, it’s good to do all that you can to protect it.
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