Brand Protection & Trademarks
If you are using a name or logo that is too similar to a competitor’s you may end up with a legal problem that will be a drain on your finances. It costs far more to put right problems, in terms of legal fees and scrapping of your marketing materials, than to avoid the problem in the first place. The way to avoid a problem is to have a trademark clearance search. Having a clearance search before you launch a new brand really is one preventative step you ought not to do without. The cost of a clearance search is insignificant, whereas the risk of choosing a brand which is someone else’s trademark is quite high. The trademark registers are increasingly cluttered so that it is difficult to find available names. A trademark clearance search before you commit to a new name or design will protect your business from the catastrophic bombshell of discovering you are infringing on someone else’s trademark. Clients often ask about doing their own clearance searches. While there is a lot you can do by way of initial checks, such as googling your desired name, and avoiding any names that competitors are already using, it is important to understand that google searches are just the start of the process. There are a host of reasons why a name may not show up on google and yet be someone’s registered trademark. For example, websites which use flash may not show up on google. Alternatively, the registered trademark may not appear on the web, or may simply not come up on the first few pages of any search you google. Someone could have registered a trademark intending to use it within 5 years, but not yet begun to use it. They nevertheless have better rights to the name if they have a registered trademark for it. Only a trademark search gives you the true picture about others rights to a name. Trademark searches are complex and specialized, so you need a professional who is knowledgeable about trademarks to do them for you. Remember, a domain or company name may have been available for you to register, but that does not give you a right to use the name in your business. Under the contracts you agree to when you register companies and domains, your registrations are explicity subject to the trademark rights of others. See also our TRADE PROTECTION & TRADEMARKS CASE STUDIES on this site
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