Trademark Registration

How To Streamline A Trademark Registration Process

Businesses can protect their name and their brand by registering a trademark. A trademark is a distinguishable graphic, a sign, insignia, symbol, a statement, or a phrase that identifies a business entity and its products or services. Trademark registration protects the brand ownership of businesses such that no other company or business can use a trademark to sell competitive products.

A trademark registration may take anywhere between 6-18 months depending on the country where it is filed. There are ways, though, to save on the time, money and effort spent on trademark registration.

1. Contract a trademark registration agency. Although individual business owners can do the trademark registration on their own, working with experienced experts cuts the time, money, and effort by half. First of all, the experts know the procedures, and because of this, may avert costly mistakes of incomplete documents or processes which have been overlooked.

2. Research online. The biggest and most consuming part of the trademark registration process is research. The applicant should research if the trademark he or she is seeking registration for is indeed registerable, which means no other business owns it or currently uses it. As there are billions of businesses out there, this may be so cumbersome to do on one’s own.

3. Download trademark registration forms online. After a careful research and a trademark applicant is convinced that he or she can proceed with the application, the next best thing to do is to download the application forms and instructions online. This will save time and effort rather than going to a local trade mark office to enquire of the procedures. Understand the procedures correctly and then follow these until completion.

After a trademark application is filed, the trademark registrar may take between 6-18 months before completing it. In between this timeframe, objections may occur. The applicant should be able to resolve these objections promptly, otherwise, the registrar may identify the trademark registration as withdrawn.