Do I Have To Register A Logo

Trademarking your company's logo is an essential step to protect your rights. It's as well a complex process that requires expert legal help.

Creating a logo is a great way to establish your company's identity. If yous've designed one, yous'll want to become information technology trademarked to protect your rights. Information technology'due south disquisitional to do it correctly, and it'due south non so easy.

You should either hire an chaser to handle the process for you or work with a specialized service. Also, y'all should exist prepared for the the trademarking process to accept a minimum of six months to complete.

Ensure Your Logo Is Bachelor

Before taking any other steps in the process, yous must bear witness that the logo you've adult is actually available.

To be registerable, your design must be unique—not something generic, in common utilise, or too similar to other logos.

So beginning the trademark search process past searching the logo trademark database of the U.South. Patent and Trademark Chaser's Office (USPTO), checking for similar logos and trademarks that are already registered by other companies.

Obtain Ownership of Your Logo

There several ways you tin obtain legal rights to the logo your company has adopted, just they are not created equally. The easiest mode to obtain rights is to just start using your logo.

This is the least expensive pick and also the about dangerous ane since you'll only ain the rights in the geographic area where y'all're using your logo. Anyone tin use it elsewhere and you won't be able to end them.

You can also register a trademark for your logo with the Secretary of Land in the land where you will be using the logo. Doing so protects your rights only within that land, so the logo tin be used past others in other states.

The 3rd and well-nigh expensive option is to file a trademark application with the USPTO. Again, you need an attorney or specialized service to help you set the awarding considering it must accurately describe the logo in terms that are utilized by the USPTO.

Information technology takes several months for a registered trademark application to be candy in one case information technology is submitted.

Secure the Trademark

Once your trademark is registered with the USPTO, you will ain the rights to use information technology anywhere in the U.S. Registering the logo gives y'all the correct to sue to enforce your buying.

Registering the trademark also gives you the right to finish foreign goods with your logo from being imported from another country (which is a concern if at that place are counterfeit versions of your product).

Once your logo is registered with the USPTO and you have your trademark registration, you lot too tin can register it in other countries to protect your rights there.

Monitor Your Trademarked Logo's Employ

Your work is not done in one case you've registered the trademark with the USPTO.

To protect your logo and make certain no 1 else is using it, your company will demand to do a trademark picket. At that place are specialized attorneys and companies that handle this kind of ongoing intensive work. They constantly check to be certain no one else is using your logo or attempting to trademark logos that are too similar, and, if someone does, they send a cease and desist letter.

Trademarking a logo is essential for any business. But information technology also is a technical and complex process, for which nearly everyone needs legal assistance. Take the steps necessary to protect your company's logo today.