Trademarks are a valuable asset, securing your company against other businesses that would attempt to imitate you by using your name or logo. If someone were to start a company that sells an identical product to yours, they would have a difficult time duplicating your brand and competing with you.
However, even though trademarks are an effective way of protecting your business, they can come with challenges and disadvantages as well.
If you are thinking of registering your company’s name as a trademark, you should know about the challenges you will face and the things you should keep in mind. Here’s everything you should know about trademarks.
What Are Trademarks?
Trademarks are a brand name, logo, or slogan that identifies your business differentiates your business from others in the market and helps people remember who you are.
Your trademark is important because it protects you from other businesses that would want to duplicate your company’s success by copying your logo, design, or product.
How Long Does a Trademark Last?
The average length of a trademark is 10 years however, this can be different depending on the type of trademark and the country you are registering it in.
For example, if you are dealing with a trademark in the US, you will have to renew your trademark every 10 years. If you happen to live in Canada, then your trademark will last for 15 years, so long as you file for renewal every 5 years.
There are also other countries that have different lengths of trademarks such as China and India that last for 20 years each keep in mind that the length of time may vary depending on where the trademark is being registered.
Issues With Trademark Registration
The first issue with international trademarks registration is the cost when you register your company name as a trademark, you have to pay one fee for filing and maintaining it. However, there are other things you will need to do too, like publish your trademark in the Trademark Journal or file it internationally.
The second issue with registering trademarks is that they can be subject to fraud or misuse of the trademark this can happen if someone else registers a similar trademark or if someone were to buy your brand and then rebrand it with a different name.
Lastly, there are issues related to enforcement when trademarks are registered you might not be able to enforce your rights if someone’s trademark is registered in another country, which could lead to them misusing your logo and brand domestically.
How to Protect a Trademark?
When a company decides to register its company name as a trademark, they are signing up for a five-year period where it can exclusively use its name however, there is still the potential that another company could attempt to steal your trademark and use it for themselves.
If someone were to try to steal your registered trademark and sell products that are similar to yours, you can take them to court for infringing on your rights. Trademark infringement happens when someone uses your registered trademark and attempts to sell an identical product as you do.
This can include using a different logo but selling the same product or making false advertisements about the quality of your product when this happens, you have the legal right to sue that person in court for stealing from you.