Benefits of Trademark

There are numerous reimbursements to registering a trademark and utilizing the trademark services of a lawyer. Registering a trademark heightens the protection it receives, deters others from using your trademark, and increases the remedies should someone disobey upon the trademark. Trademark registration is perhaps the most significant piece of a company's intellectual property protection program. Without trademark registration, a company relies solely upon common law rights in the geographic area in which it uses the trademark.

Most appreciably, without registration, a latecomer may register a mark identical or similar to the company's mark. This registration by another user may block the development of the company's use of its trademark in other areas or may block the company's later attempt to register its trademark. That's positively a hard pill to swallow for the company which could have averted these problems with early registration. If the company had registered it prior to the other user, the TMR would have denied the other's same or confusingly comparable trademark. In addition, the company would always have rights greater to the latecomer, and would not be blocked in its expansion plans.

A trademark is a symbol of starting place or quality. It is often thought of as a "brand." It represents the reputation and goodwill of a business or product. In the United States, trademark rights are acquired through use of a mark on goods or services. A trademark may be registered at the state or federal level; however, registration is not essential to have rights in a mark.1 There are, however, separate advantages to having a federal or state registration.