A trademark represents your business. You can register a trademark, a logo, a symbol, and even a sound that refers to your business.
A trademark represents to others that your company owns the products or services that it offers exclusively. Sometimes customers are driven to buy a product by its brand name, so it is important to make the brand stand out by having a unique trademark first. Recognizable symbols help build healthy customer relationships and maintain loyalty with repeat shoppers.
Your need for a trademark registration depends on the scale on which your business is established or growing. If your business operations are conducted in a single state and there are no interstate business operations, then you don’t need a trademark.
When you acquire a business license from the state in which you do business, you gain legal rights to your business name. No other person or company may use your business name unless they are permitted to do so.
But if you want to expand your business and start trading in other states as well, your trademark will not be protected. In this case, you will need to register your trademark, which will ensure the protection and authenticity of your trademark. Registering your trademark helps prevent problems like doing business in states with companies that operate under the same trademark.
You may also be willing to register your trademark if you provide goods or services on the Internet. Ecommerce merchants often trade with customers outside of their company’s home state. A trademark will protect your business identity when conducting business online in other states.
The various benefits of registering your trademark:
- Communication: A trademark makes it easy for you to communicate your ideology with your consumer base. Certain designs or words in your logo can be effective in selling and marketing your products. Consumers generally associate themselves with certain intellectual and emotional messages that are conveyed through your trademark.
- Valuable asset: With time and the rate at which your business grows, the value of the brand is appreciated later. There are times when the asset trademark grows to such a level that it exceeds the overall value of the company. It can then be sold, leased, or used as collateral when borrowing.
- Availability: A trademark helps customers recognize a particular company. In a competitive world where multiple others offer the same service or sell the same good as you, it’s hard to stand out. Here, the trademark comes to your rescue. It grabs the customer’s attention and makes it less likely that they will switch to another brand. They also know who they are dealing with, therefore they are less likely to switch to an alternative.
- Recognition: When a customer searches for your products on the online portal, a unique trademark helps the portal filter the results and display your name at the top. Filtered results showing your name on customer screens occur only when there is higher traffic for your products, resulting in higher rankings, attracting more customers and more brand recognition.
- No expiration date: Your trademark does not expire as long as it is being used. Once registered, there is no provision for renewal.
When choosing a brand, the owner must bear in mind that he must justify his product. A thorough investigation must be conducted to avoid probable cases related to the infringement.
All the above points answer the question of why a company needs a trademark to save itself.