The Importance of Registering a Trademark: A Founder's Guide
As a founder, registering a trademark may not be your top priority, but it's critical to protecting your brand and intellectual property. A trademark is a symbol, logo, or word that distinguishes your company and its products or services from others. It’s essential to ensure the continuous success of your brand, and a registered trademark makes it much easier to protect your own properties and prevent others from duplicating them. However, there are several things to keep in mind before you register your trademark. Read on for our founder’s guide to registering a trademark.
Speak to a Lawyer First
Most startup founders don’t have legal knowledge about trademarks and other areas of intellectual property, therefore seeking advice when making trademark decisions is a must. Intellectual property law experts can assist you with the legal framework surrounding trademarks and what to expect when registering. When speaking to a lawyer, ask questions about the trademark process, time frame, and associated costs. Your lawyer will also be able to advise you on the correct classes associated with your trademark registrations.
Do an Initial Search on Your Trademark Via Atmoss
Before registering your trademark, you must conduct a trademark search. Atmoss is a free Australian government website that can help you search for similar trademarks. This web service determines the uniqueness of your trademark and identifies whether there are any existing registered trademarks similar to yours. Unfortunately, timing is very important when registering trademarks. If someone has already registered a similar trademark, this could create potential legal issues in the future.
Do a General Search of Your Trademark Locally and Internationally
It is also important to search if there are already existing trademarks with the same name or companies that have similar branding in the same or similar industries as your company. Doing this will give you a better understanding of the trademark landscape in both Australia and overseas, where you may be trading, or hope to trade one day.
Consider Whether You Need to Register Outside of Australia
If you are hoping to trade in other countries, it is important to also register your trademark outside of Australia to ensure that you have control of your intellectual property in those countries and prevent others from using your registration in those countries. This will mean registering a trademark through internationally recognised channels such as PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) and Madrid Protocol and regional mechanisms such as ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) countries.
Regularly Review Your Application
After submitting your application, it's important to regularly review your trademark registration, making sure that it is still relevant, and has covered all the right classes of trademarks that you may use as a business. This will ensure that your trademark maintains its protection so that your intellectual property is continually safeguarded and sets you up well to dispute any unlawfully infringed attempts.
Don’t Register Yourself
Finally, it is crucial not to register your trademark yourself. It's always best to work with an experienced lawyer to register your trademark as they have the knowledge to ensure your trademark is approved quicker and with the appropriate protection. 90% of the time, founders who attempt to register the trademark themselves find it takes significantly more time, and is more expensive as they miss fundamental classes that their brand needs to operate under.
In conclusion, registering a trademark is critical for all businesses that want to protect their intellectual property and build a strong, recognisable brand. Some of the key considerations before registering your trademark include checking with a lawyer first, conducting an initial search, performing a local and international search, regularly reviewing applications and ensuring that not only are you registering in the correct classes but ensuring that other countries are covered. Always seek assistance from a registered trade marks attorney, such as Merton Lawyers, to ensure your application is successful. Use these tips to protect your brand, and register a strong trademark.
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