5 REASONS WHY YOU NEED A REGISTERED TRADEMARK IN THE US

At first glance, trademark registration might seem a costly, time consuming and unnecessary measure for a business. However, there are different benefits the registered trademark has. And here are the most essential five of them.

1. HAVE A RECOGNISED BRAND.

Trademarking of company name makes products or services distinctive from other players on the market. While being recognized, a lesser extent of competitors wants to copy or steal such a brand. Also, trademark registration in the US increases the level of trust of the company among customers, and thus its profit at all. It will be easier to sell your business or be merged with another one.

If you register a trademark under the USPTO, other people willing to register a trademark in the US will find you in the trademark register. It will most likely stop them from registration of the same or confusingly similar to your trademark. And as long as the trademark is used in commerce and maintained under the USPTO, putting others in the notice about the rights will prevent possible trademark infringement.

2. RIGHTS THROUGHOUT THE US COURT.

A trademark gives you a good advantage in the US court. Once the trademark is registered, there is a right to file a federal trademark infringement action. Trademark infringement is the unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark on or in connection with goods and/or services in a manner that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or mistake about the source of it. As a result, if the court finds such infringement, it is possible to receive remedies.

In particular, the remedies might be the following:

1. stop the use of the accused mark;

2. destruction or forfeiture of infringing articles;

3. monetary relief, including defendant’s profits, any damages sustained by the plaintiff, and the costs of the action; and

4. payment of the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees.

It has to be noted that under the Lanham Act, a certificate of registration is prima facie evidence of the validity of the mark, ownership of the mark, and exclusive right to use the mark. As a consequence, if someone fills an application to the federal court, it is under his/her burden of proving such points. The owner of the trademark should reply only to the points raised.

3. PROTECT YOUR DOMAIN NAME.

Trademark is a reliable protection of your domain in case of domain name disputes. A domain name is a unique address that identifies a website. It should be registered before its use, and no two websites might have the same domain name. However, only one letter in the name makes a difference, and thus a domain name with one symbol distinction might exist. And quite often, it refers to cybersquatting, unauthorised registration, and use of a domain that is confusingly similar to someone’s trademark. Thus, it creates domain name disputes, consequences of which are transfer to an opposer or cancellation of the domain name.

Disputes might arise even if both parties use similar domains with goodwill. However, for one party not to pick up traffic and customers of another, one of them fills a complaint under UDRP rules and starts a domain name dispute resolution procedure. In such cases, the winner usually has an official trademark that matches the domain name.  Otherwise, the probability of saving the domain is very low.

4. USE AMAZON REGISTERED BRAND.

Another crucial reason to register the trademark name is an opportunity to enroll a product or service in Amazon Brand Registry. It gives you more control over Amazon pages. In particular, the benefits are the following:

1. Simplified process of finding potential infringements and its resolution.
   Namely, Amazon Registered Brand allows conducting searches through which it is possible to find listings that match a particular brand (product or logo) using images. After that, Amazon provides a simple, guided way to submit a report of potential infringement, which further will be reviewed and resolved.
2. Brand building.
   It is possible to use rich text and images to highlight the brand story and features, which, potentially leading to increased conversions and traffic. Also, Amazon’s tool gives brand data (e.g. behaviour data, search keywords). It greatly helps to build strategies and business plans to grow up in the nearest future quickly.

To apply for this program, it is obligatory to have a registered trademark for the product posted. It should be noted that the list of government trademark offices accepted by Amazon is limited to certain countries, and, fortunately, the US trademark office is one of them.

5. HAVE FINANCIAL REWARD.

There are also significant financial incentives to register your trademark since a trademark is an asset with monetary value. This is common when one business decides to merge with another one, or someone just wants to buy a particular business — this is a bright indicator of the success and growth of a new competitor on the market.

In such business processes presence of a trademark is one of the first things buyers pay attention to. If it is, there is a possibility to sell the business, having a registered trademark significantly increases the remuneration costs. Moreover, there is an opportunity to sell the whole business completely and share it. Namely, people may conclude a trademark license agreement. Under this contract, a registered trademark owner allows another party to make and distribute certain products or services. As a remuneration, a registered trademark owner is given a certain amount of money (royalties) in exchange for sharing the trademark.

To conclude, the registered trademark in the US is one of the most important assets of the business, which provides great benefits for growing up your business and secures it from the unauthorised use by unvirtuous actors of the market. If you need any help with trademark registration, use the form below to contact lawyers.