5 Expert Tips for Trademarking Your Startup

Steve Jobs once said, ‘Why would anybody join the navy when one could be a pirate?’

A start-up can be taken as a simple belief, that you possess the new product or service to rule the market you are entering. Nonetheless, if you take some time out to dive into a dictionary for the meaning of start-up, you will get something like this, a newly formed business.

To put it simply, a start-up is a newly formed business, which has not carried out much of a business yet. That’s why it will have to get the head in the game to attract potential customers. Marker is filled with tough competition and rivals. There are roughly 40 million small businesses that have been operating in the soil of the India. Still, if you look at the success rate among those who register a company online, it portrays a grim picture with only two-thirds can cross five years.

When a journalist interviewed David Sharifi, who is an L.A based IP attorney and technology attorney for start-ups in the IoT (internet of things) and emerging technology, entertainment law, and federal trademark registration. The first question he asked was, ‘what one has to do to form a new successful start-up?’

He replied, ‘to place yourself and your start-up in the right position, one has to be certain about everything, and one way to do so is by trademark registration.’ But why is it so crucial? Because your trademark becomes your brand. It can be a logo or the name of the brand. By which customers would be able to locate your brand quickly. It distinguishes your products and services from your rivals in the market.

One example to demonstrate how crucial a trademark is;

The SciFi channel devoted to freshen up its image and who has released its new trademark: SyFy. It has been selected like this deliberately because youth would text it, as it is the slang word meaning syphilis. It is unlikely that any professional marketing person would suggest you associate your brand with a sexually transmitted disease. Throughout the interview and extensive research by experts show the trademark can be a game-changing factor to decide your start-up’s success. Here are the five tips that can help you in trademarking your start-up as given below;

1. Attentive creativity.

If you look at some of the best trademarks, you will realize they are sui generis and can be easily identified. Once you get an idea to opt for one, you require the best due assiduity to make sure it does not exist anywhere else. If you take this step wrong, you invite a legal problem for yourself and your start-up. It is vital that your trademark is brand new and possess a top-notch quality.  

2. Carry out your own research.

Conduct your own research when it comes to trademark search. Check out if it is thorough, and make sure that there are no negative overtones. You can take assistance from Markify, which offers a free of cost trademark search tool circling Europe and the U.S. to make sure your uniqueness. Your next stop would be of looking for a trademark search in your concerned countries. As in the case of the U.S., you will have to approach to USPTO’s (the United States Patent and Trademark Office) trademark electronic search system. Once you apply to U.S. trademark application, you will get six months to apply for trademarks in foreign lands, hence, ensuring it would be backdated to your registration date of U.S.

3. Application for your trademark.

Trademark application to the USPTO initiates a legal process. Due to this scenario, a meticulous start-up would need online trademark registration in India to ensure your application meets all the legal desideratum while avoiding pitfalls. For instance, your start-up requires to exhibit that you use the particular trademark on a commercial basis and crucially, across the state lines, needing the transmission of money and products and services from one state to another. Both of which are a legal necessity.

4. Soliciting legal advice.

To ensure your trademark’s legal status and high-level protection of the trademark, you will need a lawyer who can resolve the vital issues and, if left unheeded, that it could be detrimental for the start-up.

5. Trademark cancellation and rejection.

Once your application is filed, you will have to be patient and wait for several months. It can be rejected, or after being allocated, the company can initiate legal action to have it annulled. One should keep in mind that your trademark law safeguards both your business and customers.

For instance, if the plaintiff can justify customers would be perplexed by two similar or identical names, your registration can be annulled.

It is crucial for any newly formed start-up, not just to recognize but to comprehend the legal desideratum of trademark registration wholly. These tips mentioned above would surely help you in your understanding process. To protect your start-up, it is crucial to protect your trademark first.