If you own a company, you may have wondered if you should trademark your company name and/or logo. There are several benefits in taking the time and money to obtain proper certification that proves that you own the trademark to your title and any logo affiliated with your company. Here the steps that need to be taken in obtaining a trademark for your own company.

Do You Even Need A Trademark?

If you are a small company, you may not need to have a trademark if you do not intend on expanding your services to areas outside your own state or adjoining states. Obtaining a trademark would depend on the size of your company and the services or wares you are offering. Smaller companies usually do not need to worry about someone nearby blatantly taking their name or logo, and they can usually get by without going through the process.

Companies that have the potential to expand over several states or a large area are more at risk. There may be another company with a similar logo or the same company name in business where you would like your company to venture. If this is true, and they have filed for the rights to these before you have, you will need to change your name and logo. This is why taking the time to register would benefit you.

How To Register

Registering with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as soon as you are sure of your company name and logo will ensure that no one else will have rights to this name and logo. It protects your company name from being slandered or used inappropriately by competitors, confusing customers as to which company they are dealing with. It is not difficult to register, but the process is quite lengthy.

The forms can be found online and can be filled out with the information about the company name and logo. An image of the logo would need to be uploaded and sent to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for review. Look through the Trademark Electronic Search System on the webpage to see if your company name or logo are already in use by another company. If you see one of them are, the trademark will be contested and a trademark attorney will be needed to help you win your case to use the logo. You also have the option to switch the trademark to a different name or logo.

It would be in your interest to hire a trademark attorney from a firm like Altman & Martin to handle your paperwork and ensure that your logo and company name will go through the proper channels in being protected. It can take over a year to have your trademark approved, but it will be well worth it to know that your company name and logo cannot be used by anyone other than your own company.