Your trademarks can help you get noticed in a crowded marketplace and build up a base of loyal customers. Just trademarking a few things isn’t enough though. You need a broader trademark commercialization strategy that can help you build up an impressive portfolio and make your brand stand out. An Orange County, California trademark lawyer can help you with this.
What Should Be the Start of My Trademark Commercialization Strategy?
The most obvious steps of your trademark commercialization strategy are doing the proper research and making sure that anything that you need trademark protection for receives it. We also recommend that you keep your trademark applications broad. Some companies get too specific and that can cause issues later.
A good example of this would be a logo in a specific color. If you don’t include a specific color, others might be able to use your trademarked property as long as they just change the color scheme. This is obviously not ideal.
What Are Parts of a Trademark Commercialization Strategy That Shouldn’t Be Overlooked?
One thing that you should not forget about is your online presence. Getting domain names that match up with your trademarks is often a critical part of any marketing strategy. You do not want someone else “squatting” on a domain that could be used to promote your products.
It’s also important to remember that you don’t have to trademark absolutely everything. Your trademark commercialization strategy should focus on the intellectual properties that bring the most value to your brand and company. For example, trademarking a flagship product brand is going to be more important than trademarking a slogan that gets used in one seasonal campaign.
How Can My Trademark Commercialization Prepare Me For the Future?
Your trademark commercialization strategy should also help you prepare for the future and the potential introduction of new products and services. One way to do this is to avoid making certain trademarks for products too specific. As in our example about the logo above, getting too specific with a product trademark could end up limiting you if you make new plans in the future.
A good example of this would be a trademark that is used specifically for a clothing line. This line sold well, so now you want to sell jewelry with it. However, if your trademark was too specific, you’re not going to be able to do that. You’ll have to go with another name, and that means no taking advantage of the brand you already built up and its name recognition. You cannot change the nature of a trademark later, so leave yourself some room to expand an IP’s use when possible.
Do I Need a Lawyer?
Having a lawyer can be helpful here. Getting a trademark can be a lot of work and keeping that trademark can be even more work. An important part of your trademark commercialization strategy should be protecting your trademarks and making sure that no one is diluting your brand. That means keeping track of any unauthorized uses of your intellectual property and taking legal action when necessary, and that’s something our lawyers can help with.
So contact Burns Patent Law and schedule your consultation today. We look forward to helping you with your trademark strategies.
