What is Brand Protection? (And Why You Need It)

What is Brand Protection?

Brand protection is an essential element to any company that allows them to create a system of guidelines and safeguards to protect their brand.

Why is Brand Protection so Important?

Brand protection is critical to all sized businesses, yet it is one of the most frequently overlooked areas.

In short, brand protection is necessary because it may help prevent your company from losing thousands of dollars if a case of theft or infringement happens. For instance, if you begin your own brand and you only register the name of the brand with the Department of State, someone else would be able to take the name of your brand and use it for their brand if they file a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

This is such an issue because even if you coined the name first, it can still be taken from you since the other brand filed the trademark name properly.

If this happens, you can face substantial financial loses because your potential customers may get confused between the two companies with the same name, and you may wind up losing thousands of dollars.

To rectify this issue, you would need to take the other company to court, which would be a hefty expense. You would be spending money in court and lawyer fees when that money should be going into building your business.

You even have the risk of not winning the court case, and if that happens, you would be to completely re-name and re-brand your business. Of course, that would cost a significant amount of money and require hundreds of hours of work. It would almost be like starting a new business from the ground up.

How Can I Protect My Brand?

You can easily protect your brand by following a few simple steps.

Register your brand trademarks

Registering your brand trademarks will include brand logos, pictures, names, slogans, colors, and anything else that is specific to your brand and helps set your apart from your competitors.

Make sure your content is copyright protected

Since you are likely posting content online in the form of blog posts, articles, social media posts, infographics, and more, you should copyright all of this content. Doing so will stop people from copying and plagiarizing your content.

If you are inventing products, patent them

If your brand is currently inventing or will be inventing various products, make sure you patent them properly. If you do not get a patent, other people will be able to take your ideas and use them as their own. However, if you do have a patent on a product, only your brand will have the exclusive rights to said product.

Keep your eyes peeled or malicious activity

Do some of your own periodic research on your company and any other companies that may be stealing your content or ideas. This may help you catch others using your content for their own gain. Although it may be challenging to keep up with everything on the internet, there is a chance you may catch something at some point, so you can put a stop to any malicious activity.

Final Thoughts

In the end, taking the proper steps to protect your brand is critical to the successful future of your business. Most small and large companies overlook the necessity of brand protection, opening the doors to theft, money loses, and much more.

Therefore, by implementing some of the above ways to help protect your brand can save you a huge headache later on. Take action today and feel safer and more secure in your brand protection.