The following is an edited transcript of my podcast episode What are the Main Benefits of Trademark Registration?
Number one, when you are registered, you appear in the US PTOs database. This is important because other businesses hopefully are searching that database when they’re coming up with potential names and looking for conflicts, and it’s important because the USPTO examiners search that database when they review new applications.
So if you are registered, they may actually do the work for you blocking applications in the future that are confusingly similar. Second reason to register is trademark is for the benefits it provides in court. It provides a presumption of validity and ownership of the trademark, and it provides additional avenues to get damages, which of course can be important in the event of any litigation or dispute. The third reason I like to encourage businesses to register their trademark is that it makes it easier generally to resolve disputes. Having it registered shows investment in the brand, and it makes for a much stronger letter when sent to a copycat or infringer. So we find that it makes those disputes get resolved more quickly, more easily, and more cost-effectively overwhelmingly, most of the time. Fourth reason to register a trademark is that you get to use the R with a circle.
This shows to the world that your brand is protected and important to you. It shows it to your customers, it shows it to your competitors, and it shows it to your employees, and that is invaluable. Fifth reason to register your trademark is that it turns your brand into a tangible asset. It can be licensed, sold, and or assigned an actual value. It can even be used as a security interest with a bank. So by registering, it becomes a tangible asset with a registration number at the US Patent and Trademark Office, and that adds value to your business to the bottom. If you’re going to ever have investors or partnerships or someday sell the business, those are five of the reasons to register your trademark. If you want to hear a lot more about many other reasons to register and protect your trademark and how to take the steps to do it, follow us on Instagram or YouTube or check out our website@ericpelton.com. You’ve just listened to another episode of Tricks of the Trademark with me, Eric Pelton. For lots more episodes, videos, content links, blog posts and more, visit our website@www.ericpelton.com.08
