- Everybody knows that trademark registration
is the best way to protect your brand.
But did you know that registering a trademark
in the United States has a lot more benefits
aside from just preventing other people
from using your business name?
Stay tuned, 'cause I'm gonna tell you
about the benefits of trademark registration
and why it's so important to file a trademark application
early on in your business.
(guitar playing)
Hi everyone, I'm attorney Aiden Durham,
with 180 Law Co in Colorado,
and welcome back to All Up In Yo' Business.
So registering a trademark has a lot more benefits
outside of just what we think of
in preventing someone else from using our business name.
There's a lot more that goes into
why you want to register a trademark for your business.
Before we get into all of that,
don't forget to like, subscribe and share
and check the description for links
to additional information and resources.
You can download my free introduction
to trademarks guide and learn more about
my all-inclusive trademark registration package
or my online DIY trademark course.
All right, so why is trademark registration so important?
In the United States, trademark rights arise
as soon as you start using a trademark
in connection with the sale of your goods or services.
This happens automatically,
as soon as you start using your trademark in commerce.
At that point, you already have trademark rights
and you can exclude people
from using the same or a similar trademark
in connection with the sale
of the same or related goods or services
in your geographic area.
So if we already have those rights,
what's the matter if we register the trademark
with the USPTO?
Well, the number one benefit of trademark registration
is that it expands those rights nation wide.
On registered trademarks,
those rights are specific to the geographic area or areas
where you've actually used the trademark.
This may not be that big of a deal
for brick and mortar, local businesses,
where you're only serving your community or your city,
or only doing work for people in a specific area.
But if you're online
or if your business operates in multiple states,
if you have customers all over the place,
you want that nationwide protection,
and that's what trademark registration does.
It expands those rights nationwide
throughout the United States.
So this is super important for businesses
that operate online,
or if you have plans to expand your business
into other areas.
Trademark registration also makes it cheaper and easier
to enforce those rights if you need to.
Once you file a trademark application with the USPTO,
the details go into the USPTOs public database,
and the application becomes public record.
This provides notice to the public
that you own and have the exclusive rights
to use that trademark,
regardless of if somebody actually knows about it.
So even if someone uses your trademark
totally in good faith.
They have no idea your business existed,
they didn't knowingly use your trademark
or infringe on your trademark.
Having it in the USPTO database is constructive notice.
That's what we call it in the legal world,
constructive notice.
So even if someone didn't do a search,
the fact that it's there,
avoids any kind of good faith defense
to trademark infringement.
It's also gonna just discourage people
from using that trademark or something similar to it.
Even before your trademarks registered,
it's gonna be in that public database with the USPTO.
If somebody else is out there
thinking about using a certain name,
hopefully they're going to do a search of the USPTO
or have their lawyer do a search,
a clearance search to make sure that name is available.
If they come across your application
or your registration on the USPTO,
that will encourage people to hopefully
change their branding, change to a different name
that isn't the same as yours or quite so similar to yours.
So right off the bat, having a registered trademark
is gonna help to discourage people
from using the same or a similar mark.
And it's gonna make sure that
any potential infringing use can't be excused
because the person just didn't know about you.
They have to have known about you
because you are on the USPTO.
You also just get stronger rights overall
with a registered trademark.
Under federal law, a trademark registration
is considered prima facie evidence.
Say it with me, prima facie evidence.
Evidence of the validity of the trademark,
your ownership of it, and your exclusive right to use it.
Prima facie means kind of a rebuttable presumption
of your rights.
So if there ever is an issue
regarding trademark infringement,
it's the other party's responsibility,
their obligation to disprove the validity of your trademark,
or your trademark ownership
or your right to exclude other people from using it.
The other party has the burden
of proving contrary to your rights.
With an unregistered trademark that burden is on you
as the trademark owner.
You have to prove this is my trademark,
this is a valid ownership,
and you have to prove the extent of your rights
in that trademark.
And after five years of trademark registration,
a trademark is considered to be incontestable.
This means that certain aspects of the trademark
can't be challenged after five years of registration.
After five years,
the trademark registration becomes conclusive evidence,
not just prima facie evidence,
conclusive evidence of the validity of your trademark,
your ownership of it, and your exclusive rights to use it.
So it makes that burden on the other person
or the other party that much greater,
if they want to challenge those rights.
This can result in significant savings,
if you're ever involved
in some kind of a trademark infringement lawsuit.
Initially, as soon as you've got a registered trademark,
you get to use that little R in a circle symbol,
anywhere you use your trademark.
And this gives notice to the general public
of your registered trademark.
This can give more credibility to your brand,
and it's even more of a deterrent to keep people from using
something similar or the same as your trademark,
because now they know it's actually a registered trademark.
You also get the benefit of the USPTO
kind of doing some work for you and policing your trademark.
Now, the USPTO is not gonna go out there
and send cease and desist letters on your behalf.
They're not gonna sue people for trademark infringement.
But if somebody else tries to register a trademark,
that's the same as yours or confusingly similar,
the USPTO is going to deny that registration.
Anytime there's a new trademark application,
the USPTO compares it to other registered trademarks.
And if they are confusingly similar,
then they won't allow it to be registered.
So it takes a little bit of that burden
and that duty off of you.
You still need to take steps to enforce and monitor
and maintain your trademark registration.
But at least once it's registered,
the USPTO is gonna do a little bit of that
policing and monitoring for you.
You also get enhanced damages, statutory damages,
sometimes treble damages,
and you might get awarded attorney's fees
in situations of willful counterfeiting
with unregistered trademark.
And the final benefit of having a registered trademark
with the USPTO, is that it gives you more options
for taking action against domain name registrations
or names on online marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy.
If you have a registered trademark
and somebody else purchases the domain name
for that trademark or something really similar to it,
you're gonna have a much easier time
taking some action against whoever owns that domain name.
Same goes for online platforms like Amazon or Etsy.
If someone opens a store or a merchant account
with a name that's the same or similar
to your registered trademark,
these platforms and these domain name registrars,
and website hosting platforms,
they have processes in place
for handling trademark infringement
and intellectual property disputes like this.
And if you can prove to them
that you have a trademark registration with the USPTO,
that's gonna make it immensely easier
to get them to remove that listing
or remove that seller account,
or suspend or remove that website or that domain.
So overall, trademark registration has a lot of benefits.
Of course, it prevents other people
from using your trademark.
That's the primary reason we do it.
But not only does it prevent people from doing that,
it makes enforcement of it a lot easier
and a lot less expensive in many circumstances.
It means you might get additional awards
or different damages,
if there is some kind of a trademark issue in a lawsuit,
and it gives you more options
for policing and enforcing your trademark rights.
That's all for this episode folks,
drop a comment below, let me know what you think.
And again, don't forget to check the description
for links to additional information and resources.
You can download my free introduction to trademarks guide,
if you want a little bit more of an overview
of what a trademark is and how it works.
If you are looking to register a trademark,
check out brand bombshell,
which is my all-inclusive trademark registration package,
where I handle the entire application
and registration process for you.
Or if you're on a tighter budget,
you can check out brandish, which is my online DIY course,
where I teach you step by step,
how to prepare for and file a trademark application
with the USPTO without a lawyer.
Thank you all, so much for watching.
I'm Aiden Durham and I'll see you next time.
(upbeat music)