Understanding U.S. Trademark Protection ®

Most success stories start with simple thoughts and ideas that eventually grow into something more sophisticated and eventually market worthy. Deciding to take your talents to the next level, requires organization, dedication, perseverance and a desire to succeed.

To avoiding unnecessary mistakes along the way, it's a good idea to develop a business plan and stick to it. Once you've settled on a name or design logo for you business it's time to consider nailing down your ideas in order not to lose them. One way to do this would be registering your design ideas with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark is a legal term used to describe intellectual property, which prevents unfair competition and will legally protect your idea.

It is not required or necessary to have a trademark and filing can be tedious and time consuming. But most successful business owners would tell you it's well worth going the extra mile and carries with it peace of mind in the future.

When choosing a trademark keep in mind that it cannot be generic. Certain rules apply and some ideas may be rejected. Be sure to know the guidelines. A Trademark is a unique word, name, symbol, device, design or logo that distinguishes one source of goods from another. It identifies and associates a product with the creator or manufacturer and is legally and solely owned by the one who created it preventing unfair competition.

After creating a distinctive a design or logo to market your business, promptly check to see if anyone else has registered that same name or anything similar. Doing a search requires long hours and a lot of patience but there's no sense filing an application first without searching thoroughly. Not only have you will wasted your time, but filing requires non-refundable fees as well. Start by checking the online database of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). You are able to conduct a free search and can do so as often as you like. Business directories, phonebooks, internet searches and domain name websites are good resources as well. If don't have the time or feel uncomfortable about the grueling task you can also hire a trademark attorney or trademark search service to do the work for you.

Trademark law is made up of two different types' common law and federal. Common law trademark protection assures your logo or brand name will be safe only within your state. This can be ideal for the small corner store or local boutique. However, if your business takes off and find you want to do business on the other side of the fence, (internet sales outside your state or overseas) or qualify for interstate commerce you will be limited. So your best bet would be to register and federally protect your name and any unauthorized use of it.

The "TM" symbol will alert the public and possible competition that your designs are exclusively owned and cannot be used by anyone else. Using a trademark gives you the legal right to stop others from using your design or symbol. If the owner of a trademark finds out that another individual uses their trademark without authorization, civil legal proceedings can be used to stop the other party from doing so.