Why Do I Need a Trademark Registration?
Did you know that having your business name, your logo, and/or products protected by federal trademark registrations can increase the value of your business significantly? For example, the Coca-Cola registered trademarks (or brand) have been recently valued at over $80 billion dollars.
Successful business owners (and their shareholders) recognize the value of trademarks for their business. But where to start for trademarks?
Start with a trademark search
Many business owners assume that forming a corporation is enough to protect their business name and avoid trademark problems. This is a common misunderstanding that can lead to costly legal problems. Accordingly, relying on your state’s approval of formation of your business is not necessarily the best place to start.
Instead, a trademark search is the best way to start when opening a new business or launching a new product. You have invested the time, effort and money in your business and the last thing you want is a legal entanglement over the name of your business or that new product brand when you launch.
The Trademark Search and Analysis
A competent trademark search not only involves searching for similar trademarks but also includes the legal analysis of those search results. That’s where an experienced trademark attorney can best determine whether you have selected a trademark likely to be approved for registration, or one that is likely to be rejected or may lead to legal issues down the road because it is confusingly similar to someone else’s trademark. Successful business owners don’t rely on “free” trademark searches or luck to avoid legal trademark issues.
Trademark Monster implements traditional law firm experience to leverage proprietary (secret) trademark techniques developed over many years to give successful businesses like yours an advantage over the competition in the trademark search analysis. We include a comprehensive search and analysis before filing every trademark application.
The Trademark Registration
If the trademark search is the start, then where is the finish line? The finish line is receiving your federal trademark registration from the U.S. Trademark Office. Between the start and finish is mostly a quiet process if a quality trademark search and analysis was performed to avoid potential issues. In the event the Trademark Office does issue a refusal of your trademark application, in most cases a response can be prepared to overcome the refusal based on facts and legal arguments prepared by your experienced trademark attorney.
What Is A Trademark?
A trademark can be a word, phrase, or an artistic logo. Just about anything that uniquely identifies your product or business can be your trademark. See our Trademark FAQs for more information.
Do I Need A Trademark Search?
You need a comprehensive trademark search. Trademark Monster has a powerful software integrated search engine will perform a comprehensive search using artificial intelligence algorithms along with our proprietary trademark techniques developed over more than 20 years to help avoid problems and streamline the registration process.
Trademark Application Process
Matthew G. McKinney, a U.S. Trademark Attorney with over twenty years experience and shareholder with the law firm Allen, Dyer, Doppelt & Gilchrist, P.A., supervises the preparation of your trademark application and all correspondence with the U.S. Trademark Office to obtain your U.S. trademark registration on time and on budget.
