Tactics to badge your company

When you start a business, you will get plenty of things to be looked upon. Like type of products and services, source of finance, working hands with working skills, location, its promotion etc. In these big decisions, one might slip to spend his time over its name and logo. It is so because most of the new businessmen do not know the importance of trademark. But, if anyone is looking to establish a new business, stop for a minute and consider some of the pioneer of business world. One might not know the owner of the company, but he will definitely recognize the logo of the company. Few best examples that can be cited under this category are McDonald’s golden arches, Nike’s swoosh and KFC. Some of the companies are also using their name as their trademark.

However, choosing a name and subsequent trademark is not as easy as it seems. It takes a mix of awareness and creativity. A trademark must have a few basic traits.

Its pronunciation: If you want to use the name as your trademark, it should be easy to pronounce and remember. Customers have very short attention and retention span. In such scenario, the trademark could act as a stimulating factor to remember and buy your product.

Informative: You should try to include information about the product or service that would be offered. This also enhances your selling capacity. KFC, Pizza Hut, Jus Booster Juice, Make My Trip.com names itself represent their respective products and services.

Use of symbols: Sometimes symbols also become important, as it is easy to remember. McDonalds which has made its presence globally could be easily recognized through its golden arches. The Nike’s checkmark is more recognizable than the company’s name.

Apart from these, it should be short, simple, and easy to spell. With the introduction of creativity, one can also make its trademark appealing.

Registration:
After designing the trademark, one should not forget to register it. The registration grants you a monopoly to use the symbol or the mark with respect to your business. If in case, the trademark is not registered than it would be subject to more in-depth scrutiny by the court of law.

Search, Research & Application:
Before deciding the trademark, one should do a wide search to ensure that the logo or name that you have selected is unique. A trademark attorney is responsible for the market research. The search could be done either through the database maintained by the government of India or via other data present in magazines, journals and on internet. As soon as the research work is done, you have to apply for the trademark registration. In this you will include your basic information along with a clear drawing of your desired logo and the list of goods or services for which the trademark will be used. The application is examined by the Registrar of Trademarks. Thereafter, the mark is kept open for the opposition through its advertisement in the trademark journal. The trademark would only be registered in case of no opposition.