One question I get asked as a trademark lawyer all the time is, “Ethan, if I own my business name or I own the domain name, don’t I own trademark rights?” And the answer is no, hard no. What do I mean by that?
Let’s say that you open up a business in Florida and you go to the Secretary of State and you check for the availability of your business name and it is there. Bingo. You think that you own it. Or if you go to GoDaddy and buy www.yourbusinessname.com you think that the name is yours, and you’re wrong.
I mean it’s cool that you have the business name and you have the domain name, but it doesn’t mean that you have trademark rights. That means you could have been operating your business under the assumption that you have your business name and your domain name for like five years and some new kid on the block comes on up, registers a trademark and you no longer have trademark rights to it. That would suck.
Don’t let that happen to you. Ask a trademark lawyer, I know that it’s important to have a business name. It’s important to have a domain name, but it’s really important to have your business name trademarked. In that way, you not only get protection so that you can grow your brand, but you can also stop that new kid on the block from coming up and opening a business name that is similar to yours. Once you have a trademark, you get exclusive rights to use your name and you can stop other people from using it if they want to sell similar goods and services using your name or even a similar looking or sounding one, too.
So, if you want to get a trademark for your business, send us a message below. And if you want to learn more answers to questions about trademark law, I invite you to visit trademarktuesdays.com. That’s trademarktuesdays.com. And you can download our free guide on how to protect and grow your brand and business using trademarks.
