Save yourself $10,000 in legal fees:
A lesson for smaller firms

It might be prudent to avoid the legal fees involved with trademarking if you are just getting started.
Trademarking has its place in some areas. But common sense should tell you what value your logo has to someone else. In most cases no one could care less about your logo. This is especially true for small businesses.

Most states and provinces require that you register your company name. No one can hijack your name once you have claimed it. And ultimately, that is where the value is, isn't it?

One of our clients had a lawyer trademark her logo. Her small firm works in the human resources industry on surveys and information gathering.

Unfortunately she has trademarked a logo that no one has any particular interest in. The other firms in her space are busy trying to promote their own identities. There would be very little value in trying to use the identity of the competition.

This $10,000 expense was entirely unnecessary. If she was producing a hot consumer product, or had an exclusive technology to promote, there may have been some merit in getting a trademark on the logo.

So use those funds to promote your products and services instead. When your organization or company starts to gain traction and there is more at stake, you can budget for trademarks and other legal means to protect your identity.

Tim Robertson helps companies save time and money. With over 20 years experience in branding and packaging, he has been featured in Direct Magazine, the Design Management Review, and the Summit Awards. His work for clients includes Bacardi, Perrier, and Bell Sympatico, and he has international recognition for his branding work in developing countries.

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