Why should I use Trademarks Online?
When it comes to protecting your brand, should you submit your trademark application online yourself or should you hire a lawyer to do it for you?
Trademarks Online was created specifically to empower business owners to register trademarks themselves and get the brand protection they deserve. You can trademark your business name, trademark your brand name, trademark your logo and even trademark your slogan using our easy four step process.
Trademark lawyers will charge you up to 60% more to prepare and submit a trademark application for you - and then they charge you more fees to handle any issues as well as ‘success fees’ on acceptance and/or registration.
The Trademark Office’s own trademark application process is confusing, requires logins and passwords and is hard for non-trademark experts to navigate, leading to a low successful registration rate.
In contrast, our fully automated online trademark service guides you seamlessly through the application process, and you’ll only pay once. You can submit your trademark application in minutes and then focus your attention on building your business and growing your brand. We take care of it after that. No surprises. hidden costs.
For non-traditional trademarks such as packaging, a colour, a shape, smell, tune or any other unusual mark, get in touch and we will recommend an expert to assist you. The process for applying for those marks is more complex and you may need professional help for those.
Is your trademark distinctive and not generic?
To be registrable as a trademark, the word(s) or logo image you use must be original and set your business apart from the competition. Our article, What is a strong trademark? describes what you can do to make your trademark distinctive.
Words or images which are generic and widely used in your industry are unlikely to be registered as trademarks.
You should avoid words or phrases which are
descriptive (like NATURAL or ORGANIC for health foods),
too general for your industry (like SPEEDY SERVICE or DOOR-TO-DOOR for delivery services) or
laudatory (like PREMIUM, CERTIFIED or FINEST).
Click here to read how to avoid common trademark objections by the Trademark Office.
Select the correct products and categories
Trademarks must be registered for specific categories (or classes) of products and services - there are 45 different trademark classes.
These categories enable similar trademarks to be owned by different companies, on condition that their products and services differ and are not likely to cause consumer confusion.
For example, the Apple computer company has trademarked the word SAFARI for software (class 9) and Suzuki has the same word trademarked for motor vehicle parts and accessories (class 12)
You need to select the products or services for which you want trademark protection. This is where, in the past, many brand owners have struggled to know what to choose or had to pay a premium for the expertise of a seasoned trademark lawyer to help them.
Trademarks Online overcomes this problem and delivers accuracy to your fingertips! Our smart technology gives you a picklist to make choosing your relevant products and services in the correct categories easy, even for individuals who are not trademark lawyers.
Our state-of-the-art platform is powered by artificial intelligence which has been trained by our team of innovative and experienced trademark lawyers. Try it and you’ll see how easy it is.
Be strategic
Trademarks are registered for an initial period of ten years, after which they can be renewed.
You should be forward-thinking and secure the broadest brand protection you can as early as possible. Make sure you include products or services which you might offer in the future. If you don’t do that now, and you later expand the range offered by your brand, you will have to apply again to register the trademark in those new categories.
The best time to trademark your brand is now.
Click here to learn the basics of How to Get a Trademark and then do it yourself.
