Every brand has a unique identity. In addition to the quality of service, trademarks help people recognize and trust a brand and its goods and services. Trademarks help to maintain the relationship between a brand and its customers by making it stand unique. Since trademarks are important for a brand or business, one should learn how to make their trademark accountable after registering under USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office).
This blog will help you know everything about effectively maintaining the accountability of your trademark.
The Process of Trademark Registration
Registering a trademark for your business is a time-consuming and tedious process. From choosing the trademark filing base to submitting the application, you should be careful with every step. Before submission, ensure that your application doesn’t have technical errors and that your trademark doesn’t resemble an existing mark. If your application has no errors and meets all the requirements, USPTO will approve it directly.
Trademark registration may take several months to years, and we cannot determine the exact time it will take to get approved. However, we can ensure our trademark is unique and will not face any objections before registering it with the trademark office. After registration, it is essential to be accountability for your trademark by tracking the approval of your trademark. Also, the trademark office will expect a timely response from the trademark owner in case of any issues found on the application. Make sure to respond within the time given, or it may lead to the rejection of the application.
Trademark Renewal
Trademark renewal is an important part while taking accountability of your trademark. Trademarks protect your brand’s identity, like your company’s name, logo, slogans, etc., and prevent others from using or copying them without your permission. However, to keep a trademark valid for an extended period, it must be renewed regularly. Once filed, a trademark is valid for ten years and should be renewed after every five or six years. So, tracking your trademark’s renewal date is essential, and failing to renew it at specified intervals may result in the trademark cancellation by the USPTO.
Maintaining the quality of a brand.
People always believe in quality goods and services. As we discussed earlier, a trademark helps people recognize and remember a brand for a prolonged period. To achieve customer satisfaction, a brand should provide the quality promised while registering its trademark. Failing to provide such quality and attempting to deceive consumers will become a problem in maintaining the accountability of your trademark. So, always try to deliver the promised quality to consumers at any cost.
Usage of the right trademark symbol
We can represent our trademark in different ways. Symbols like TM, SM, and R are used to indicate trademarks. However, where to use what? The symbol TM can be used for a brand, no matter whether it is registered or not. It denotes that the brand’s owner owns the trademark. The symbol SR (Service Mark) is exactly like the TM, but it denotes the services provided by a brand.
Brands registered their trademarks under the USPTO can use the symbol R to represent their legal ownership of the mark. Using the correct symbol for your trademark is essential to maintain its accountability. For example, using R for an unregistered trademark is considered a criminal offense.
Monitoring the proper usage of your trademark
After successfully registering your trademark, there is one more thing to pay attention to. You must consistently check whether any third parties have used your trademark. Trademarks continuously used by other parties or trademarks that have more similarities with the trademarks of other brands will not maintain their accountability for a prolonged period. So, proper research before choosing a trademark is recommended to avoid similarities with other brands. It’s quite an important point to be kept in mind while taking accountability of your trademark.
Seek help when needed
Trademark owners can apply for trademarks on their own, track the progress, renew their registrations, etc., on their own. However, researching to check the availability of the trademark, filing the application without any errors, remembering the renewal dates, checking for the reusability of your marks, etc., might seem hectic while focusing on your business. So, decide whether you are accomplishing the entire process of trademark registration and tracking the progress on your own or seeking legal help from trademark attorneys or lawyers to walk you through the process.
To sum up
Trademarks help your business and brand significantly to keep your identity stand out from the others. Maintaining your trademark’s accountability for an extended period requires the effort mentioned above. You can follow the above-listed practices and keep your trademark accountable without stressing out much. It is not that difficult to keep your mark active. All you need is consistency and effort to protect your brand’s trademark.