What You Need To Know About Trademarks
May 14, 2020
Reading Time: 2 minutes
As you know by now, establishing a strong brand is pivotal to long term business success. Protecting your brand is equally important. Yet many small businesses overlook an important first step in securing their brand: trademarks.
What is a trademark?
A trademark is any unique word, symbol, name or device used to identify and distinguish the goods of one seller from the goods of another. For example, Adidas’s three stripes act as a trademark.
A trademark allows the owner to protect what’s trademarked from competitor misuse while building brand loyalty. It also helps customers associate distinct attributes such as quality with your brand.
The most common types of trademark are:
Word trademarks
Such as a business name like ‘Dove’.
Image trademarks
These will be a type of symbol without any words, like this:
Combined trademarks
These are a combination of a word and image (or words in a stylised form), for example:
What can be trademarked?
From a branding perspective, assets that can be protected are logos, names, domain names, tag lines and packaging. However, trademarks require qualifying as unique.
A word or phrase that’s commonly used or already connected with another product or service in the same industry cannot be trademarked. For example, a generic term like ‘video streaming’ cannot receive trademark protection, but a unique name like YouTube can.
Sometimes, a generic word used outside it’s typical context can qualify. Think of Apple Computers as a good example.
The ability to protect your name depends on its distinctiveness. Names that are fanciful (like Nike), arbitrary (like Penguin), or suggestive (like Netscape) receive strong protection. The more distinctive the name, the better protection it will have.
Your logo and tag line are also good candidates for trademarks. The first question to ask is, is it unique? A logo’s uniqueness depends on how its elements – symbol, name, layout and colour work together.
The Warehouse’s “where everyone gets a bargain” connects a Warehouse brand attribute – price - to its product. This tagline helps distinguish the Warehouse brand.
Key takeaways
Trademarks are vital to protecting your brand from misuse and misrepresentation. The more you differentiate your brand, the easier it will be to protect. Choose a name and logo that distinctly identify your business and will protect it from competitors.
