Trademarks Protect Your Brand Identifiers

What distinguishes your business from others is your brand identifiers. Brand identifiers are logos, taglines, colors, or any unique features that distinguish one item from another. Brand identifiers are what makes your brand unique. If you haven’t read any of my previous blogs or seen any of my Instagram videos I want to recap on some of my previous advice to deepen your understanding of the definition of a trademark. A trademark or service mark includes any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, utilized to identify or distinguish a good/service from one seller or provider from another. The important thing to keep in mind is that doing a name search for your business does not guarantee that your name, symbol, and brand identifiers are not already used by an established business. Using a mark that is already in use could result in a significant setback to your company. Although you may have done your research and feel that your brand is not the same as anyone else’s there is still the possibility that someone may already be using a similar mark. It would be beneficial to meet with a trademark attorney who is equipped in doing a more thorough search and making sure you don’t set yourself up for a world of headache and the possibility of ending up defending your brand, or worse rebranding. As unsettling as it may seem it’s better to ensure you are making wise, informed decisions prior to committing to those decisions. Another thing to consider is once you’ve done your due diligence ensuring your concept isn’t being used elsewhere is to make the decision to protect that brand. After putting in a substantial amount of work on building your business, the last thing you want is for someone else to come along, take your idea as their own and monetize off of it. With the world currently under quarantine now is the perfect time to re-evaluate your business.