THINKING OF TRADEMARKING YOUR BRAND?

There are a few things you can trademark: product names, service names, taglines, logos, and a few other things. But product names were the original reason for trademarking. When someone had a product that was legitimate and physical, there was often a brand name attached to it that the owner would want to protect. 

When your products are protected, no one else can reproduce them and make money on your ideas. That way, the owner gets the full return from the things they create. 

So how do you approach trademarking product names? 

Ideally, you won’t create a trademark that directly describes what your product is. Apple did not trademark "iPad Tablets", they trademarked "iPad". McDonald's did not trademark "Big Mac Burgers", they just trademarked "Big Mac".

If you can trademark your product without the actual description of it, it will give you an advantage over someone who wants to fight your claim. It makes your claim less specific yet still directly associates the product with your unique name. This is especially important for the food industry since there are only so many foods with endless variations. 

Your brand will eventually be easily recognized as a specific thing. If you can get away with not adding the actual item name, skip it! There are a few times in which you would want to include the name of the item sold. If there are confusingly similar trademarks or marks that are very close, you may want to play around with the name. 

Imagine that you sell ice cream, and your product name is Tadada. There is also a pizza company by the same name in a different state, and the name of their trademark is Tadada Pizza. You would not want to pursue the trademark Tadada. However, if you went for the trademark Tadada Ice Cream, it could serve as the perfect limitation. If the pizza company tried to fight you, it would be easy to explain that you sell ice cream: there it is in your name. 

If you went for just Tadada, then that pizza company could potentially file a complaint and try to take you to court, since you use a word that is in their name. Once you create the distinction of the product you sell, you’re in the clear. This is likely the only time it’s a good idea to utilize the name of the item in your trademark.