Why get a Trademark for your Business

Introduction

Trademarks are a type of intellectual property that protects your brand by preventing others from using your company name or logo to make money. The term trademark comes from the Latin word for “to mark,” and it’s used to describe any word, phrase, symbol, or design that distinguishes one business entity from other companies in the same market.

Protect your Public Identity

Trademarks are a form of intellectual property. They protect the source of goods and services, preventing others from profiting off your brand.

Trademarks can be applied to any product or service that you use in connection with your business. For example, if you own a restaurant with the name “The Cheesecake Factory,” then it would make sense to register that as a trademark so that no other businesses could use it without permission or payment (this includes other restaurants).

Protect your Business’s Intellectual Property

Trademarks are an important way to protect your business’s intellectual property. They help you prevent others from profiting off your brand, and they can be used to enforce your rights in court if necessary.

Trademarks are registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which uses them to distinguish between businesses that are using similar names or logos. The USPTO registers trademarks for five years at a time before they expire if no one files an opposition against them. The USPTO also allows companies to file provisional applications while they wait on official registration, so long as they meet certain requirements first—like paying fees and providing proof of ownership over their brands—before submitting final paperwork. These applications may be rejected later if their owners show no intent to use them consistently over a time before receiving official approval from the agency

Legal Rights

The legal rights to a trademark are not permanent and must be renewed. If your business has been using its trademark for 10 years and you want to keep it in place, you must renew the registration of that mark at least every 10 years (you can do this online or by mail).

Once you’ve filed for initial registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), it will take about two months before they issue an official notice that says “your application has been processed. After this point, if there’s no action from anyone else claiming ownership over similar marks on any product or service that falls under their classification—like restaurants—then yours is considered “incontestable” until such time as someone challenges it in court by filing their own request for cancellation based on prior use; otherwise known as “opposition proceedings.”

Time, Effort, and Money

To successfully register your trademark, you will need to file an application with the USPTO. This is a costly process and can take months or even years before receiving approval.

Once you have completed this step and submitted your paperwork, you may be asked by the USPTO if you want them to review any changes in your logo design over time (for example changing colors). If so, they will also require that you provide them with another specimen of any new version(s) before they issue an official registration certificate.

If all goes as planned during these steps, then congratulations! You’ve successfully protected yourself against competitors stealing away market share through imitation tactics—and also earned yourself some free publicity for being awesome at what you do!

Takeaway

When you register your brand’s trademarks, you can sue for damages or an injunction directly in court. You can also recover legal fees, profits from the infringer, and even attorney’s fees if they were involved in filing or prosecuting your case.

In addition to recovering these monetary awards at law, registering a trademark will give you additional protection against infringement as well as provide other benefits like:

• The ability to use it as evidence of ownership in any future dispute (such as trademark infringement)
• An opportunity to enforce your rights through injunctive relief if necessary

Conclusion

Trademarks are your business’s most powerful legal tool to protect its name, logo, and reputation. They’re also an important tool for protecting your business against competitors. If you register your brand’s trademarks before another company does, you have a better chance of getting an injunction that prevents an infringement on your trademark.