The most recognizable marks should be protected first. Companies can use the ® registered trademark symbol to publicly declare their rightsĬompanies should view trademarks in terms of priorities.Businesses can more easily pursue legal action against infringers.Registering creates a federal record of trademark rights, leaving few excuses for infringers.The sooner businesses register, the better protected they are against trademark trolls.If you still find yourself wondering “Do I need to trademark my business name?” you may want to consider the many benefits of spending the few hundred dollars to register the marks: Reasons to register a business nameĮventually, successful businesses will do well to register their trade names as trademarks, even if they are not the main identifying features of the business. But Twitter, Inc.’s superior rights prevent Tweetbot’s developer from owning federal trademark rights for the name of the app. pushes a trademark infringement case on Tweetbot. It seems unlikely, at this time, that Twitter, Inc. It’s also possible that another company owns the trademark rights to the term “BOT” (there are more than 300 live entries in the USPTO database). Yet they have not attempted to trademark the name, despite its strong branding. Their hit app, Tweetbot, ranks highly among iPhone Twitter apps. The developer Tapbots provides an example. But it may mean that another company owns trademark rights similar enough that the USPTO would not grant another registration. That doesn’t always mean that they can’t use the name at all. In some cases a company might not be able to register a trademark for their name.
(Taking matters further, the App Store and Google Play list the game’s developer as Star Command, LLC.) This probably won’t matter much to Warballoon. Perhaps some insiders do, but the general public sees only the brand Star Command. People generally don’t associate Star Command with Warballoon. Yet, Warballoon did not file a trademark application for its own name. Patent and Trademark Office approved them in late 2012. They created the hit game Star Command, and in 2012 filed a federal trademark application for that name. Take the mobile game developer Warballoon LLC, for instance. In that case, it is much more important to trademark the product or brand name than it is the company name. Trademarks and identityĭoes your company name identify your products? In many cases a company will use distinctive branding on its products independent of the company name. Read more about the pros and cons of common law trademark rights here. It costs money up front for the filing fees, and more if you utilize a trademark attorney, but it can save you plenty in legal fees if you ever face an infringement case. Typically, you will save time and money in the long run by filing a federal trademark application and establishing trademark rights that way. You can prevail, but relying on this level of trademark protection can prove costly if another business pops up with a similar name for their business, or goods and services. If not, you have to take pains to prove that your use of the mark predates the infringing use. If you have successfully gone through the application process for a federal trademark registration, you have clear grounds to sue those who infringe on your mark. Specifically, you might find it difficult to prevent others from using your trademark as you do not have exclusive rights to the name. You will, however, find it difficult to enforce them without a federal trademark registration. As long as you were the first to use the mark in commerce, you technically have trademark rights. Common law trademark rightsĮven if you never file a federal trademark application, you can still claim rights to the marks and intellectual property your business uses. So do you need to trademark your business name? Your company’s particular circumstances will determine the answer to that question. But it is not necessarily the top priority for certain types of businesses. In many instances yes, companies should trademark their names as it provides additional protection at the federal level. However, does it follow that all businesses should trademark their names? All businesses benefit from trademark registration.
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