What is a Trademark?

Do you have a catchy name and cool logo for your business? Do you sell something, or do you provide services to your customers?

If that’s the case, then you may want to consider trademark registration.

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design that identifies the source of goods of one company from another.

Think of the Apple apple, the McDonald’s golden arches, or the fancy Coca-Cola red scripted logo. Those are all trademarks, and they help you find your favorite companies.

But there are also service marks. A service mark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies a company that provides services rather than stuff.

Some examples of service marks might be the Amazon smile, the American Express logo, or the logo for Hilton Hotels.

Trademarks are your company’s identity.

Would you like someone to use your face to make money? How about your name to open a bank account? Definitely not. That is called identity theft.

Trademark registration can help protect your company from identity theft.

While trademark registration is not necessarily required, trademark registration can provide significant advantages such as nationwide protection, public notice of your ownership, and the right to sue to protect your company’s distinct name and logo.

You can also check to make sure that you are not infringing on someone else’s identity too.

Want to find out if you could benefit from a trademark? Fill out our questionnaire.

Trademark your brand. You’ll be happy that you did.