Trademarks are what every business owner should but don’t always have. Now that more information is available on the importance of having one, many entrepreneurs are jumping on the bandwagon to get their trademarks registered.
That said, everyone gives you LOTS of free advice. “You can trademark anything,” they say, but is it true? Can you really trademark anything, including your personal name? Will the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) approve of an application to trademark your name?
You’re in luck because, in this article, you will discover if it’s possible for you to trademark your personal name.
Company Registration Vs Trademark Registration
While a lot of people think that trademarks are the same as a registered business name, they are two extremely different things. Registering a company can happen when you register it in a state or when you register your business as a corporation or an LLC.
The HUGE difference is the protection you get. While this doesn’t seem important, you will realize that federal protection is what you really need. State-wide protection can and will protect you, but it won’t stop other people from registering the same name elsewhere. With trademarks, you cover all bases—you get protected in ALL states, and you can even go further by trademarking your brand internationally.
What Qualifies As A Trademark?
A lot of stars have trademarked their names—Stella McCartney, Donald Trump, Taylor Swift, and many more. But what can qualify as a trademark? Can you just go and file it with the USPTO? The short answer is no.
The first thing you have to know about trademarks is that they exist to protect a product or a service from others that may use your brand to gain profit. So you should ask yourself this: “Am I using my name for a business? For any product or service?”
If the answer is no, then most likely, the USPTO will not approve your application, or they will, but there will come a time where you will have to show evidence of use and when you can’t, your trademark will be canceled. The best advice is, to trademark your personal name only when it’s used widely in commerce.
So if you plan to have a business using your name, you may push through with the registration, because your name isn’t just a name anymore—it’s already a brand. It takes on a completely different function now, and a trademark will ensure that nobody else can use your brand for their business.
Take note that common names like John Smith and other very similar names may face objections at the Trademarks Office. Read more to discover the best strategy or names you can register as a trademark.
Fanciful or Arbitrary Trademarks
The best names to register are what the Trademarks Office calls “fanciful or arbitrary names”. Fanciful trademarks are those that are completely made-up. Names like Xerox, Kodak, Exxon, and Pepsi are popular examples.
On the other hand, arbitrary trademarks are names that are not made up names, they are everyday names that have nothing to do with the product or service you’re offering. The most popular example is Apple, which is a name of fruit but the business has nothing to do with fruits and everything to do with computers, phones, and many more gadgets.
Benefits of Registering Your Personal Name
Trademarking your personal name is a step you should do in business if you want to protect your brand from cybersquatters or from other businesses that can use your name for profit. These cybersquatters use the names of other people to create websites with domain names that can confuse lots of people.
A good example is Morgan Freeman, who trademarked his name to prevent other people from using his name for promotions and services (who use his name to promote their products with his name on it). His name is registered under the class of “entertainment services namely, live, televised, and movie appearances by a professional entertainer.”
Stella McCartney is also a great example as she trademarked her name for her business—which is namely clothing and high fashion. If she hadn’t trademarked it, other people could’ve easily used her name and Ms. McCartney would have a harder time taking them to court as compared to just protecting it in the first place.
Trademark Protection
It’s one thing to trademark a name, it’s another to enforce the protection you have over it. It’s not the responsibility of the USPTO to protect your registered trademarks. As a business owner, you have to be very diligent and be on high alert for people registering similar names to yours. A good step to take is to put a Google Alert on your brand and do your research.
If you notice a similar trademark to yours, it is possible to take them to court to stop them from further using the trademark. But you have to have evidence that their trademark is “confusingly similar” to yours. It can’t be just an opinion you have as the court will look for evidence.
A good example is a legal battle between two Burger Kings. One Burger King started in Florida, and the other started in Mattoon. The Florida Burger King is the billion-dollar food chain that you know and love today. They had to go to court and prove that the Mattoon restaurant was confusingly similar to prevent them from using the name “Burger King”.
The Best Way To Get Your Brand Trademarked
As you may have noticed, the trademarking process is a very complicated one, and doing it yourself will be a tedious process, not to mention it can get very stressful. The best advice is to get the best trademarking services out there. Most big corporations would go with trademark lawyers, the only thing you’ll need is a huge budget because they charge by the hour.
If you don’t have an unlimited budget, the best thing you can do is to find a trademarking company with experts that can give you guaranteed results. Look for a company that won’t just file your trademarks but one that will cover all and major office actions and can assure you of a FULL refund if they don’t get your trademarks registered.
A lot of people want to trademark their business but cannot end up trademarking it due to the uncertainty and lack of knowledge about it.
That is why they are not willing to trademark their business and get the benefit from it.On the other hand, when you know what you can get from trademarking your brand and business, you can take the chance and improve your business.
Of course, you do and that is why you are reading this article.
Well, there are many advantages you can take from the trademarking your business, however, we are going to mention some of the main ones.
Increase revenueTell me, what is the main objective of a business?
The more revenue you can generate, the better you can make a profit.
You can register logo and brand registration online for yourself or your company from anywhere at any time.
Power of Attorney (POA) signed by the candidate.Process of Brand Registration in Delhi Searching Trademark AvailabilityFirstly, we have to search whether your business name, brand, and logo are not already registered.Therefore, search for a trademark that is unique and different.After that, when the searches are complete, it will confirm that the brand is unique.
Filling in Trademark ApplicationOn completion of the trademark search, apply for the trademark registration online for your unique business name, brand and logo.If someone else has got the same trademark, then we need to change our logo.
And if you know that you are already using this trademark, then before being used by someone else, you should give a trademark application as soon as possible and start using TM with your name.
TM-form will be fill-up with the prescribed fee.
Application Review for Brand Registration in DelhiAfter giving the application, the trademark office will check it thoroughly.
Trademark contravention is very usual because it has several grey areas when it comes to the interpretation of IP rights law.
Coca-Cola's trademark over its bottle's shape, and Fair & Lovely and Emami about its brand line Glow and Handsome are still sub judice.
- You are the registered trademark's owner, and a rival business starts utilizing your mark without registration.- You recognize that a rival business incorporates similarity in wrapping, color, product design, tag lines, brand name or logo, or any other differentiating element.
If you have noticed another business utilizing your trademark, below are some points that might help you to get some legal redressal; Look out the area of business of the infringing mark - This has to be your first step, as the basic test that courts use to look out if the 2 businesses utilizing an identical mark is whether It would cause indecision.- For instance, Kellogg's in the packaged food industry is a well-known mark, so another business in the same industry with the same name will potentially be taken as a trademark infringer, and that can make your argument stern.
- Nonetheless, even if the infringer brand does not belong to your industry, it can still be illusively identical to yours.
It would involve looking out how long they have been in this business.- Also, you should look out how long the violator has used the trademark.
