Intellectual Property

So, exactly what is a trademark and what is the importance of registering it?

A trademark is actually the face of your organization or company. It could be a logo, drawing, or even just the name that you want associated with your business. It could be in black and white or color, with any font you wish. Most importantly, it describes your organization or business, and distinguishes it from all those in the marketplace.

But what is the big deal about registering it in the first place? It is actually so important that you cannot afford not to register it. In the age of instant access to the Internet, even owning a Web site allows more individuals to view and access your organization's information.. and steal it. And this can happen even if you have been using your mark for a long time and then finally decide to register it.

Take the recent case of one of my clients. He had been using his mark for many years and finally decided to register his mark when when he saw some similar marks on other Web sites. It looked seemingly simple. He wanted to register a mark with his own name. However, it turned out that someone else, with a completely different product, beat us to the punch. And they were not even using the name in commerce. But because of trademark law, the other mark had priority, to even use my client's NAME, because the other mark was filed first!

So, the lesson to be learned here is that a trademark filing is of the utmost importance. It can save you a lot of time and money -- and your business's reputation in the long run.

Happy filing!