A registered trademark provides protection for brands and businesses online and in the traditional offline economy. A registered trademark can protect the name of your products and services. The process for obtaining a registered trademark can be confusing and complex, a smart entrepreneur would do well to engage the services of a professional to navigate the process and obtain the strongest registration possible.
In the online sphere, goods and services are marketed and accessed across multiple channels, from social media to mobile platforms to do-it-yourself marketplaces. Counterfeiters and pirates are insidious in these channels as the barrier to entry is low. Traditional media outlets such as radio, television, and print advertising are still important but are no longer the main channels of communication for brand thieves.
The Online Sphere
A common form of online brand theft is infringing or confusingly similar domain names. Most businesses now market or sell their products and services via a website or smartphone application. Smart businesses leverage social media to increase their reach amongst their target demographic. With these new channels of communication come new threats of infringement. A registered trademark is the first step to protecting your brand from online brand theft and imitation.
A registered trademark provides businesses with a shield against similarly branded businesses and future entrants. A registered trademark can be used as a sword against poachers and counterfeiters, especially the online variety looking to make an easy buck off of other’s hard work and Intellectual Property.
Here are five reasons to protect your brand with a registered trademark:
- A Registered Trademark Provides Constructive Notice
A registered trademark provides national protection of the trademark, regardless of the actual geographic use of the mark. Further, a registered trademark allows third parties, such as website operators, a quick and easy way to verify your rights, which in turn results in inexpensive and effective resolutions to brand infringement.
A registered trademark provides constructive notice to the world of the trademark owner’s rights. One cannot claim ignorance as a defence to choosing an identical or confusingly similar brand name.
- Recovering Domain Names That Infringe Your Trademark Rights
As mentioned in a previous post, infringing or confusingly similar domains can be easily recovered if the brand owner has a registered word mark.
- Social Media Squatters
The theft or impersonation of a brand on social media applications such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat is especially damaging to a growing brand as it establishes its brand identity. The complaint procedure offered by these platforms is impersonal and highly anonymous. Without a registered trademark, the operators are likely to ignore your complaint.
- Counterfeit Goods
Countless products are sold on online marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon, and Etsy. The world of counterfeit goods grows daily[1]. The days during which sales of counterfeit fashion and luxury goods were largely confined to physical market districts – such as New York City’s Canal Street and Beijing’s Silk Alley Market – are long gone. Online retail sales have grown at an annual rate of 20% or more.
The Internet provides counterfeiters with unlimited access to consumers worldwide. Further damage is caused by counterfeiters saturating the market cluttering up search engine results by using thousands portal websites, stifling legitimate brands and businesses.
- Expansion of the Brand and Business
A registered trademark provides the holder with national protection of the trademark, regardless of whether the brand has actual recognition or use in the particular geographic area. This protection provides brand owners with the opportunity to expand the business into new provinces, states, and territories with less risk of being blocked by a non-registered user. A Canadian registration may be used as the basis for filing a trademark application in the U.S. and abroad.
[1] The market for counterfeit goods and pirated property represents an estimated 5% to 7% of global trade, or between $500 billion and $600 billion annually – twice the estimated annual profits from the sale of illicit drugs worldwide ($321 billion).
Daniel Nashid
Barrister & Solicitor
416.892.2509
[email protected]