Brian Russ Law, Inc. provides trademark registration services for clients in all 50 states, including Florida.
What Is 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 businesses do not have a trademark that is used in commerce or if they haven’t started using it for their trade, competitors will be able to use it, as in the example of the Happy Days Toy Store.
To get the exclusive rights to their trademark, they would need to register their trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Registering a mark will generally protect a mark for the entire United States in the specific international class and related goods.
Get to Know Federal U.S. Trademarks
Trademarks are a way to see who or what company created and/or is handling the product. They allow trademark holders to identify their products. Used in the same way as logos, brands use trademarks to match their targeted demographic.
Trademarks are important in order to be able to sue an infringer. There are two types of trademark protections; a federal trademark registration, which is the license to use a specific word, symbol or design in commerce and the ownership rights associated with it, and a common law trademark, which is created by using a word as property for business purposes. In cases where someone else is infringing on your mark you can use either method to sue them.
Registering a trademark on the USPTO Principal Register ensures other people are aware that your mark is in use. This prevents unintentional infringement, which is actionable to some degree.
Hire a Trademark Attorney and Avoid Doing it Yourself
A trademark attorney will help guide you through the trademark process by completing your application and conducting a comprehensive search for any others that might conflict with yours.
We recommend against people trying to trademark their own business name. If someone does not use legal counsel, there are many online services for them to follow through with the process. There are a lot of these types of sites that lawyers hate, but we love because it gives us an excuse to come into contact with them and clean up any mistakes they make.
We have experts to guide you through the process of positioning your application and navigating complicated laws. If a trademark is already registered by somebody else and you are not in direct competition, it is possible not to apply for one at all.
Why bother to understand the difference between trademark and copyright?
Trademarked products are shown as belonging to that company and can be characterized by their name or appearance. Trademarks are mainly used for advertising purposes, relating the prefixes to a specific brand.
Copyrights differ from trademarks because a copyright protects an individual work, while a trademark is the identity of the business. It’s important to know the difference between copyrights and trademarks because knowledge of these laws helps protect company intellectual property rights.
Examples of Trademark Needs in Kissimmee, Florida
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 Reunion West, or driving on Highway 192, 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 Kissimmee, that somebody two states over isn’t going to steal your idea and name and do the same business.