Number 1

“Our brand name comes from rearranging and changing a few letters of our competitor’s name.”
While clever, the best-case scenario will be a trademark so close to another that your brand value will be very low.

In the worst case, you will be in the middle of some very expensive and unnecessary litigation. Attempting a free ride on a competitor’s trademark is not a winning proposition.

Number 2

“SEO is crucial, and we need to be on page 1 of search results, so we use generic keywords for our brand name.”
Search Engine Optimization, brands, and trademarks are not the same. You cannot trademark generic terms or something that is merely descriptive and tells the world about your features and benefits.

Trademarks are not in place to provide for a monopoly over your products and services. Rather, they provide a monopoly over the name, logo, or taglines which allow consumers to identify your products and services apart from other similar offerings.

For instance, as much as you would like your Indian Restaurant in Vancouver to be on page one of Google results, you can’t name it Vancouver Indian Restaurant. This name is generic and you will never receive trademark approval for its use.

Number 3

"I'm glad I didn't waste money on trademarking. My business went bust, anyway."
Few businesses have any remaining value after failing. No one starts a business hoping to fail but basing trademark registration decisions on the risk your business may go bus is insane.

There is always a risk that something might not work out and your efforts prove unsuccessful. You still need to protect your brand.

Number 4

“I came up with the idea for that name first, but…”
Litigation lawyers hear this one frequently. But with trademarks, it doesn’t matter who came up with the idea first.

What matters for your trademark is who put that name out to the market first, the first website for people to see the brand? Who first began advertising and selling products or services under that brand?

It doesn’t matter if you are the first to register the domain name. Until there is an avenue for consumers to purchase your products and services under that brand, you do not own it.

Outside of North America, the winner is the first to the trademark office to register their trademark. Typically, they only recognize registered trademarks, not who is first.

Number 5

"And who's going to deal with my brand?"
Seriously?

If you are building a brand that you believe is not worth stealing you either have the wrong brand, the wrong business, or probably both.

If you believe in your brand, file your trademark application. Otherwise, choose a different brand, find something you feel strongly about to build a legacy you want to protect.

Summary

Don’t sabotage your success by unwittingly diminishing your brand’s strength and compromising your trademark value.

Take advantage of the strong team of skilled professional trademark attorneys and specialized trademarking staff at Trademark Factory®. Let us do the work of managing your application through the government bureaucracy while you build your business.

Contact us today and learn more about our all-inclusive 100% cash-back guarantee of successful trademark registration.