How important is trademarking? Do you really need to trademark your business?
The answer is yes. If you want to protect your corporate identity and brand, and at the same avoid potential lawsuits, then you will need to trademark your business. When you register your trademark, you will have the tools to prevent anyone from using similar signs or even your company name to ride on the success of your business.
So you’ll definitely need to know what trademarking is all about…
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What is a trademark?
A trademark is a phrase or it could be a symbol that distinguishes your business from other businesses. It’s important that your trademark is protected legally because even if you’ve registered a business name or even a company name, you don’t actually own that name. It’s only after it’s trademarked that you can say you own it.
Now you need to trademark in the different countries that you’ll choose to operate in. In each country, there is a specific organisation that is responsible for issuing trademarks. Here in Australia, it’s an organisation called IPAustralia.gov.au.
The next question then is when is the right time to trademark your business name?
The Right Time for Trademarking
Should you trademark on day one? There are some people who would agree and say yes, you should definitely do it on day one. Some would even say to start it on day zero before you’ve even started your business or before you’ve spoken to anybody about your business.
Now the problem with that scenario is that it might cost you a thousand or two thousand dollars. Then in a week or a month, you might decide that the name is not really working after all. Maybe you’ll decide to change direction and do something else. I don’t want you to waste that money so I’ll tell you the perfect time to trademark your business.
The right time for trademarking is not day one or day zero. It’s when you actually have your first paying customer and you have some money in the bank. Once you have a real business that’s making money, you can then move quickly to trademark your business.
How to Trademark?
The first step you need to do is to search so you can check and make sure that no one else is using that name. That way, you’ll know if you need to change your name because you don’t want to be infringing on someone else’s trademark. That is a really big problem that you want to avoid at all costs.
Do a search and see if your business name is trademarkable and then if it is, you can proceed to the submission process. Now you’ve got three options when it comes to trademarking. The first is you can do it yourself and the second is you can talk to a lawyer, which could cost you lots and lots of money. The third option is you could go to an independent consultant that specialises in trademarking and won’t charge the normal fees that lawyers do.
To recap, remember that one, it’s very important to make sure that you trademark your business. The second is that you should do it the moment you have your first customer.
Want More Tips to Grow Your Business?
If you want more great tips to boost the growth of your business, come along to our 1-Day Business Workshop, 52 Ways. We run this free event all across Australia and New Zealand so check out the days when we will be in your area.
If you attend this workshop, you’ll be equipped with valuable knowledge that will help your business grow. Register, claim your free tickets and discover 52 awesome strategies that will truly transform your business.
