A trademark registration is a great start when it comes to protecting your brand’s identity. You can trademark your logo, slogan, unique brand name, and even unique designs specific to your brand. The goal of a registered trademark is to ensure that your competition can’t copy your brand, confusing the market and driving away your customers.
But it’s not enough to simply register your trademark and call it a day. In fact, many IP owners make the mistake of believing a trademark registration alone will defend their brand. In actuality, it’s important to be much more proactive about your brand protection.
Will the USPTO Protect Your Trademark?
Some business owners believe their trademarks are automatically defended because they’ve registered a trademark. In reality, the USPTO takes a much more passive role. During your application process, USPTO lawyers can guide you through the process of applying if you have not already hired an attorney. However, they are not allowed to offer legal advice. They also don’t work to monitor and defend your trademark once your trademark is registered.
The reason for this is simple: hundreds of thousands of trademarks are registered every year. With such vast numbers, it would be impossible to monitor every one and defend it from trademark protection without something slipping through the cracks. A trademark registration offers passive protection. It means that legally, no one can infringe upon your intellectual property. But this protection may be negatively impacted if you do not take steps to defend it.
Why Do You Need To Take Steps To Defend Your Trademark?
Simply seeing a ™ sign beside your brand elements may not stop your competition from copying your brand identifiers. Sometimes it can even happen on accident, just a coincidence of two minds thinking alike. But these trademark infringements should always be taken seriously. Over time, if you fail to defend your trademark, your brand can erode until it loses everything that makes it distinct.
The good news is that you can stop most trademark infringements by sending a cease and desist letter. The threat of legal action is often enough to correct the offending behavior. The longer your competitor infringes upon your trademark, however, the more their customers come to recognize them that way. If you don’t defend your trademark in the early stages, you could find yourself doing so in a costly court case.
Why Affordable Trademark Monitoring and Enforcement Is Worth It
Garcia-Zamor offers affordable trademark monitoring and enforcement with our Tradeguard services. Tradeguard comes in the form of three different plans, each with a low monthly rate so you can decide the best option for your budget. On the most basic plan, we will:
- Research through USPTO publications and social media
- Provide an opinion and report on your trademark’s status
- Offer a 30-minute consultation
With Tradeguard Plus, you get all that plus filing of a trademark cancellation or opposition petition. Tradeguard Premium tops it all off with a 25% off discount for legal fees that might come from an ensuing lawsuit.
This takes the pressure off of you to constantly monitor and enforce your trademarks. It also gives you the confidence of knowing that attorneys with 20+ years of combined experience in intellectual property are on the case. With our trademark monitoring, you can focus on running your business while we focus on defending your trademark.
Need to defend your trademark? Contact Garcia Zamor today to learn more about how we can help you.
