Your application for a trademark is typically accompanied by a comprehensive trademark and name search. However, there may be an even stronger reason to apply early. By filing for a trademark prior to launch, you can be sure that your name is protected once you begin commercial sales. ![]() In many cases, a business will want to start the trademark application as soon as their LLC or corporation paperwork is filed. As a result, it’s typically best for a business to lock up their trademark rights for their company name as soon as possible. However, these common law rights are limited to the particular geographic location where the mark is used, and will offer limited help in court should you want to challenge someone’s use of the same or similar name. That means that as soon as you start selling a product or service, you can claim common law ownership of that trademark without formally registering it with the U.S. In the U.S., a business gets common law rights to a name as soon as it is used in commerce. I look forward to speaking with you.For the new business that is just starting out, a common question is, “When is the right time to file a trademark application?” Should business owners bother registering before their product or service is ready, or just wait until they’re ready to officially launch to the marketplace? If you are looking into trademark registration, but aren’t sure whether you should apply to register for a trademark logo or a word mark, please feel free to call me at (314) 479-3668, email me at or complete the contact form found on this page to schedule your free initial consultation today. Having Trouble Deciding Between Registering a Trademark Logo or Word Mark? An attorney can advise as to whether the Trademark Office would find your changes to be acceptable. If you are considering making changes, it would be best to consult with a trademark attorney before doing so. While amendments can be made to your application or registration, they cannot be material changes. You only receive protection for the mark that you registered, not an open-ended set of variations. This is especially true for design marks. I recently discussed how making changes to trademarks can be problematic. Remember that you must use your mark consistently when registering a trademark logo. If your design mark consists of both a distinctive logo and wording, then you may want to apply to register it once you’ve received protection for the words in a standard character mark. A trademark logo incorporating words may also be the best option if the words themselves are not distinctive enough for protection on their own. In order to get the broad protections afforded by a trademark registration, these need to be registered separately from any word marks. Many businesses use logos that do not incorporate any words. However, the registration of a trademark logo (or “design mark”) can also be an important part of protecting your brand. Once you have a registration for a word mark, then you can use the words in different ways, even by incorporating them into a logo design. It is that flexibility that makes the registration of a word mark more of a priority than that of logos in most cases. This is different from the registration of trademark logos, because it provides more flexibility. If the application matures into a registration, then the word(s) will be protected as it is used regardless of capitalization, font, size, or color. The word mark in this type of application is featured in all capital letters. A standard character mark is one type, which how you get protection for a word or several words. When filing a trademark application, there are different types of marks that you can apply to register. In most cases, a business will benefit more from obtaining a “standard character mark” registration for its name. However, obtaining a registration for a trademark logo is typically a secondary concern. ![]() In many cases, they can actually include the words or name of the business that they are associated with. ![]() And they are often very distinctive, too. That may be because more work is goes into creating them. I think that most people will instinctively focus on the logo first. Clients frequently ask me whether they should focus on obtaining a registration for their name or for their trademark logo.
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