Not all trademarks that receive trademark protection are considered “good” or “strong” marks. Many businesses or brands make the mistake of registering weak trademarks that often cause legal and financial headaches down the road. It is for this reason and others that we tell clients that in addition to making sure your desired mark can be legally protected (that is, that the mark can be registered with the USPTO), you’ll also want to determine whether your desired trademark has the characteristics of a strong or effective mark.
Here are some questions we ask our clients to consider when evaluating the strength of the mark they wish to register.
- Is the mark descriptive for the products or services you will provide?
- Are others using the same or a similar mark in your industry?
- Is it memorable?
- Is it easy to spell?
- Is it easy to pronounce?
- How distinctive is the mark?
- Is it too long?
- Is the mark arbitrary or fanciful? (These seemingly random marks are arguably the strongest and the easiest to protect.)
It can also be helpful to run your ideas by a trademark attorney while you are still in the development phase. As business owners or creatives, we can fall in love with our ideas and look at our work with rose-colored glasses. It happens to the best of us. As such, we often need an objective third party to pick our concepts apart and expose any flaws before getting too far into the registration process. Your IP lawyer will help you more objectively weed out problematic trademarks so that you can focus your time and money on securing the marks that will offer the most protection for your brand.
If you have an idea for a trademark and you’d like to have our attorneys evaluate the strength of the mark and determine if it can indeed be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, contact us at (888) 666-0062 to schedule a consultation.
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for obtaining legal advice from an attorney.
