We had a brief conversation with a prospective trademark client recently. This client failed to fully comprehend the importance of trademarking. This is relatively common in our practice, but this client’s take was a bit
different.
His rationale for not needing to secure a trademark registration for his product name was that the product at issue and the associated product name were not strategically important to his company. While the name may not have been important to him, it may be important to third parties.
Here’s what we mean – if you choose a name for your product and that name is confusingly similar to the name of a third party, you could have some trouble on your hands. Before selecting a particular name for a product or service it is a good idea to know the risks associated with selecting that particular name.
You want to avoid the time and expense of litigation or the cost associated with rebranding by not doing your homework at the front end. One way to get a reasonably good idea of what you are getting yourself into is to conduct a trademark search.
Trademark searching is a relatively inexpensive and comprehensive way to get insight into the risks associated with moving forward with a particular trademark. A good trademark search will include common law sources, state trademark databases and the USPTO database.
For questions regarding the trademark application process – including the benefits of conducting a trademark search feel free to contact our office and talk to one of our trademark attorneys.