I’m sure you’ve heard frequent talk about the importance of registering trademark for your brand elements. Your brand name, your logo, unique imagery, even distinct product shapes and packaging can all be trademarked in order to make your brand stand out from the competition. When you have a registered trademark, you are able to legally enforce your right to exclusively use those elements of your brand, but how do you know if or when you need to enforce your newly registered intellectual property? This is where trademark monitoring comes in.
When you want to enforce your trademark, you have to be aware of other companies infringing on that trademark in the first place. This may be easy to do if the restaurant across the street from yours begins using your logo. It can be harder if you have an online shop and another store you’ve never heard of begins to use your branding. What if a freelance artist steals your logo and presents it to a client as their own?
This is why protecting your brand doesn’t just stop with a trademark registration. You have to monitor the marketplace to make sure none of your competition is infringing on that trademark.
The Importance of Monitoring Your Trademark
Your trademark is what makes your brand stand out. It helps your customers find your brand and your products, and share them with others. If your trademark is not registered and monitored, however, your competition can take advantage of that. They may intentionally try to confuse the market by creating a brand that is too similar or identical to your own, effectively “posing” as your brand or identical to your brand to your customers.
Sometimes it’s not even an intentional trademark infringement. The business owner may innocently commission someone for a logo, unaware that the product they receive is plagiarized. They may come up with a clever name for their business, unaware that the name is already trademarked. Each business has a responsibility to research and register their trademark, which would reveal that the brand name is already trademarked by you. But you also have a responsibility to be aware of the way your brand may be used without your permission.
The more your competition is able to infringe on your trademarks, the weaker your brand becomes. Without enforcing your trademark registration, your brand can easily fade into the background as your customers jump ship to other brands that seem to be exactly the same.
Protecting Your Brand With Tradeguard From Garcia-Zamor
The good news is, you don’t have to put in all those hours monitoring your trademark yourself. Garcia-Zamor will do it for you, with our Tradeguard services. Tradeguard offers a constant search of your trademark through both USPTO publications and major social media websites. If there’s a trademark infringement of your brand, we can find it. You receive monthly reports and brief opinions that help you know whether your brand is in danger.
There are three different Tradeguard plans. The basic Tradeguard plan offers a search of USPTO publications and major social media platforms, report and opinion provided by US attorneys, and a 30-minute consultation with your attorney. You can also upgrade to Tradeguard Plus or Tradeguard Premium to receive further benefits like:
- Free trademark infringement analysis
- Preparation of cease and desist letters
- Initial filing of a trademark opposition or cancellation petition
- 25% discount on legal fees for an infringement lawsuit derived from a Tradeguard search
Need help protecting your brand? Garcia-Zamor has you covered with Tradeguard and our 20+ years of combined experience in the world of intellectual property. Contact us today to learn more or set up an appointment.
