Create Time 2019-07-15 03:07 Views：13055
Have you ever dreamed of starting your own business? Maybe you’re already living the dream and preparing to launch your company, your dream child, your piece de resistance. You’ll have thought about banking, licensing, building a website and finding a location if you need one.
Whatever else you’ve been working on, you’ll definitely have thought about your name and branding. To be honest, that was either the most enjoyable or most stressful part. But have you thought about your trademark?
While you are still small and starting out you might be thinking, what’s all this fuss about? I don’t have a trademark and I’m just fine! Just wait. Someone is going to come along someday with a cease and desist because they’ve trademarked your name and you haven’t.
Registering a trademark in Canada and in every country in which you want to do business should be one of your first steps, not an afterthought. Not to mention that many countries will not allow you to do business in their jurisdictions without a trademark, so that’s something to keep in mind if you intend to expand.
Trademark registration is brand security. It’s like getting the registration for your car—you own this thing. And just like it’s illegal to steal someone’s car, it’s illegal to steal someone’s trademark.
Trademark registrations come will legal protections. If you see another company infringing on your intellectual property (IP), you can take action with the full weight of the law. You can potentially have injunctions, fines, and repayment of losses placed on the offending party.
Along with the protection of a registered trademark comes brand recognition. With the security of knowing that you own your trademark comes the confidence to use it and make it known on the market. Soon, consumers will begin associating your brand with your products, which is exactly what you want to happen.
Trademark registration is a hot topic in Canada since trademark laws changed. As an un-trademarked small business, you previously would have enjoyed at least some protections under the first-to-use system. This allowed businesses to protect their brands as a common law trademark in their own region if they were well known (and beyond if they were particularly famous). That is no longer the case. These days, a trademark belongs to the person who filed for the registration first (first to file system) and not to the person who was using it first. Therefore, be first. Don’t lose your branding because someone else was the early bird.
Trademarks, in general, tend to pay for themselves in terms of revenue. For one thing, they let investors know that you are serious as well as secure.
In Canada, however, trademarks have become an important investment with high returns. Canadian trademark laws changed due to Canada’s joining in with various international intellectual property treaties and accords such as the Paris Accord. Canada also accepted the Nice Classification System, widely used by trademark authorities as their new system for classifying goods and services on trademark applications.
These changes make Canadian trademarks far more attractive on the global market. They are easier to transfer and follow international guidelines making them not only more acceptable to investors but to other trademark authorities. The gates of expansion have opened wide for Canadian trademarks.
Brand recognition, trademark protection, and the opportunity for investment and global expansion. What more do you need? Visit our website and sign up for a free complimentary consultation with one of our expert trademark specialists to get started.
Disclaimer: This website is not intended to offer legal advice or to be a substitute for a consultation on a case-by-case basis with an attorney. The information provided above is meant for informational purposes only and may be subject to change.
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