What is a Trademark?

A trademark is a registered symbol, usually a brand name or logo, that is used to represent a company or product. As a form of intellectual property, it serves as an exclusive symbol to prevent others from using a similar or exact copy, which may cause confusion.

Registering your trademark can help prevent others from copying your branding, protect your investments in marketing, and increase credibility with your target market. However, when creating a new business, it is vital to do proper research to prevent the violation of trademark infringement.

What is Trademark Infringement?

Trademark infringement, on the other hand, happens when a brand comes up with a name or logo that is too similar to another’s without permission.

Being accused of trademark infringement is expensive, inconvenient, and time-consuming. You may have to change your business name, completely rebrand, destroy your stock inventory, and pay damages and other legal fees. Major corporations are particularly sensitive about protecting their brand, and they have the resources to do so. Therefore, it is important to take preventative steps to secure your brand identity and marketing, especially on online platforms.

How to Avoid Trademark Infringement?

Here are some steps that you can take to avoid accidentally infringing an existing trademark:

1. Assess the position of your business and industry
   Ideally, as soon as you set up your business, look over your name, logo and brand description. Are they too generic, or too descriptive? Analyze how aggressive the main players in your industry are so you can roughly estimate the consequences of any trademark-related risks and accusations. 
2. Research on existing trademarks
   Conduct a search in trademark databases, as well as online marketplaces. Look for both words and designs that may be mistaken as similar to the ones that your business uses. 
3. Document your research
   Save screenshots, documents, and other important files in case you are accused of trademark infringement in the future. It may also help even if you eventually decide not to register for a trademark, since you can refer to the dates of your research. 
4. Consider getting business insurance
   If you’re deeply worried about the possible financial impact of an accusation, getting general liability insurance for your business may be beneficial. Just make sure that it includes liabilities for personal and advertising injuries. 
5. Register your own trademark
   There are many uncertainties in the field of intellectual property, so it may be beneficial to refer to an expert for scrutinizing and processing your trademark application.

Register Your Trademark at Loft

At Loft, we employ our own corporate lawyers and business consultants who have years of experienced with starting and managing Philippine businesses.

If you need help in registering your business logo or trademark, contact us through our form or call 0917 899 0044 to inquire about our trademark registration package.