Your brand has a story that never gets old. It has been transforming the lives of your customers by putting their needs at the forefront of your service. When their lives have been changed, they would also transform your brand by bolstering your brand’s reputation to others.
Same goes by trademarking your business name. The success of your business ripples, increasing your legitimacy and value in the marketplace. Undoubtedly, some famous brands like Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple have sustainably prospered for years due to the trademark benefits.
To prosper your brand’s streak, this article will help you discover the best reasons why you should trademark your business.
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What is a Business Name?
A business name is your business’s legal name. It is the name that you use to represent in the legal documents, government forms, and some business correspondence.
Depending on what structure your business operates, your business name identifies the nature of your business – whether a sole proprietorship, general partnership, limited partnership, LLCs, and corporations.
Furthermore, your business name cannot market and serve as your product source. Hence, to market your brand, you should trademark your business name.
Best Reasons Why You Should Trademark Your Business Name
(1) Trademarks can market your brand.
A business name is different from a trademark, where the former represents only the nature of a company, and the latter identifies the source of your goods or services.
Currently, some businesses have experienced trademark violations because they identified their product source using their business name.
That’s why you should trademark your business name to market your brand’s identity, engage your customers, expand your marketplace, and lower the risk of trademark infringement.
Remember that an average cost for trademark infringement lawsuits can cost you up to $120,000 to $750,000, depending on the complexity of the case. This is where an intellectual property lawyer comes in handy if you have any queries.
So if you want to avoid that six-digit legal cost and instead convert it as your profit, Bold Patents now offers cost-effective and world-class trademark services just for you. Book your free consultation now!
(2) Trademarks add IP valuation to your business name.
Intellectual property (IP) are the building blocks of your brand’s value. It is the creation of your mind – your literary and artistic works, symbols, marks, books, including trademarks.
Trademarks represent your brand name, by which your customers can remember and recognize your products and services through a logo, slogan, symbol, etc. Being said, your trademark functions as your IP that identifies your product source from others.
As your intellectual property, you can valuate or monetize your brand by trademark licensing. For instance, Brand companies like McDonald’s, KFC, and Pizza Hut started as a local brand. But when these companies engaged in franchising, their services spread throughout the globe, bringing smiles to every community. Hence, not only you increase your profit, but also you elevate your brand’s value.
(3) Trademarks bolster your business reputation.
J.D. Houvener, a Trademark attorney serving Seattle, reveals that trademarks create a life outside of your product. Your product may not necessarily be the best in the market, but your customers would follow you because they love your brand, the belief that you stand, and the advocacy you promote.
Remember that branding doesn’t end only in your capacity to profit. But it is how you influence your customers and convert them as your life partners.
Does your product help your customers improve their daily living? Did your customers give you positive feedback from using your product?
If you haven’t filed for trademark protection, then it’s not too late for you to have.
(4) Trademarks provide your brand exclusive rights in the marketplace.
In today’s Internet-driven economy, most of your targeted customers are now using their social media applications to transact and buy products. In other words, your marketplace is not limited to the actual shopping arena, but now extended inside your technology.
Here is when a federal trademark registration comes in! Your existing common law may provide you legal protection against trademark infringers, but only in a limited scope and recognition.
Expanding your business online requires you a domain name to distinguish your product source in the marketplace. That’s why you should register your business name with a federal trademark registration to let the whole market community know that your business name exists and operates uniquely.
Once registered, you can designate your business name with a registered trademark symbol “R” to publicly show and give notice to your potential competitors should they infringe your mark.
(5) Trademarks offer state and federal protection.
Running a business without a trademark protection is a common failure that most entrepreneurs would commit. Just imagine the earnest efforts, time, and money you would waste when a trademark infringer imitates or uses your brand without your authorization. In worst-case scenarios, you would either lose your loyal customers or face a trademark infringement case in the court.
That’s why trademarks are not a waste of dime. The law provides you two options for the protection of your brand: a state trademarks or federal trademarks.
State trademarks are favorable for your local branding. When you plan to promote your brand only in your state, then state trademarks are for you.
But if you plan to expand your market beyond your locality, then you need to obtain a federal trademark registration. Here, you will enjoy a nationwide protection against trademark infringers.
Both protection comes with different trademark costs. See for yourself whether what protection you need that aligns your current goals.
Key Takeaways
Your business name represents the nature of your business, identifying your business structure, whether you’re operating in a sole proprietorship, general partnership, limited partnership, LLC, or corporation.
It doesn’t identify your product source, but only it ascertains the nature of your business.
However, trademarking your business name can be your medium to develop more stories together with your customers’ journey. Once you have changed their lives, they would also transform your brand’s perception through marketing your business’s shared values, goals, and personality.
Why should you trademark your business name? Here are five reasons:
- Trademarks can market your brand;
- Trademarks add IP valuation to your business name;
- Trademarks offers state and federal protection;
- Trademarks bolster your reputation; and
- Trademarks provide your brand exclusive rights in the marketplace.
Jeff Bezos, a multi-billionaire entrepreneur and Amazon’s CEO, once said that “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
It’s not too late to sustain your brand’s streak and empower more customers. Trademark your business name now!
