Brian Russ Law, Inc. provides trademark registration services for clients in all 50 states, including South Carolina.
The Importance of Trademarks
A trademark is a word, phrase, logo, or other symbol that distinguishes one company’s goods from those of another. If a business does not have a trademark that is used in commerce, they cannot claim it exclusively and will be unable to stop competitors from using it. For example, if someone creates the name ‘Happy Days’ for a nursery school and starts using it for their businesses, the owner of the Happy Days toy store cannot stop them from doing so.
You can register a trademark to have the exclusive rights to it in commerce and to prevent others from using it. Registrations are issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which generally protects your mark for the entire United States related goods or services.
How Federal Trademarks are Created
A trademark is a symbol that identifies goods and services from a specific company. The name of the trademark should be distinguishable from names or logos of other companies. It helps keep competitors from using your mark to identify their own products without your permission, so you have more grounds to file a lawsuit against them.
If you have federally trademarked your business, it will be easier to win cases against infringers and easier to win cases in federal court. You can get more damages awarded through federal enforcement.
When registering a trademark on the USPTO Principal Register, you are essentially giving both intentional and unintentional infringers constructive notice of your trademark.
Reasons You Should Hire a Trademark Attorney
It’s important to hire a trademark attorney to make sure that your trademarks are legally protected. If they aren’t, there will be consequences. A trademark attorney can help you guide through the process from start to finish and do an extensive search for any other similar trademarks that might conflict with yours.
Our team recommends not using automated services, as they are a waste of time and will oftentimes create greater problems. These services don’t provide legal counsel, and rely on problematic algorithms.
Reach out to our office and we can help you get your application right the first time. We pride ourselves in not making a mess and being able make sure your trademark allowance is successful without even applying. Sometimes it just isn’t worth it to bother if somebody else has registered your mark ahead of you.
What is the Difference Between Copyright and Trademark
Trademarking is used to protect a company’s name so that the customer will know where to go when they want that product. It’s also mainly used by companies for advertising purposes, so customers will know who provides the service or product.
A copyright is something that protects the author or artist, which means no one can use their work without permission, but they still own it. A copyright exists whether registered or not, but additional protections come with the registration. It is important to know the difference between a trademark and copyright so your company’s intellectual property rights are adequately protected.
Examples of Trademark Needs in Anderson, South Carolina
A lot of people ask us, “Why do I need a trademark for my business?” And the simple answer to that is your businesses name, logo, and branding are inherently valuable. You want to ensure that you’ve protected your business as your brand’s value grows and continues to appreciate over time. For example, if you’re in Northlake, or driving on Interstate 276, you’ve probably seen tons of billboards for corporations and mom-and-pop shops alike. And they’ve all got a certain feel to them, their branding. And that branding is valuable. You want to make sure that if you start a shop in Anderson, that somebody two states over isn’t going to steal your idea and name and do the same business.
.