How To Find Out If A Slogan Has Been Trademarked

Read Time: 12 minutes

Tabular array of Contents

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ane. What Is a Trademarked Slogan?
2. Things to Avert When Trademarking a tagline
iii. Slogans that can't exist trademarked
iv. Why a Trademarked Slogan or a Tagline is important
5. Coming up with a Slogan
6. Essential Steps to Trademark Your Name or Phrase
7. Advantages of Trademarking a Slogan
8. Disadvantages of Registering a Trademark
9. Often Asked Questions

The identity of your visitor is more profound than the logo and proper noun that appears on your website, business bill of fare, or letterhead.

If you lot look at the leading companies in the earth right now, yous'll notice they have some sort of phrase they always use.

This phrase is frequently used to summarize and enhance their brand identity. It tin can come in the form of a tagline, motto, slogan or a catchphrase.

When a slogan is used effectively, information technology goes a long way in contributing to the visitor's perception past the public. It complements the company's logo, name, service, and production.

The question in the mouth of almost business owners is: how to trademark a phrase?

We've listed the steps and everything you lot need to know that volition make the process as like shooting fish in a barrel as possible for you.

What Is a Trademarked Slogan?

Starting time and foremost, it is essential that you understand what a trademark is … A unique symbol or motto that differentiates a visitor or product from another business.

When you register a trademarked slogan, you are taking your concern a step higher. You're creating a connection between your brand and the bulletin you're sending to customers.

Slogans registered equally a trademark.

This volition also go a long way in enhancing your marketing efforts. At the same fourth dimension, it'll also add immense value to your company.

The moment you trademark a phrase or slogan, your visitor has the exclusive correct to use the slogan to make coin.

At any fourth dimension, you tin can protect your business concern idea and slogan from infringements of whatever kind. That'due south not all, you tin can also take infringers to courtroom and sue for damages.

Things to Avert When Trademarking a tagline

A common mistake made by most businesses is that they register advert campaigns equally trademarked slogans. They are 2 different things. Before y'all tin can trademark a slogan, the post-obit definitions accept to exist met:

The slogan has to be catchy and creative to leave an impression on the audience.

Take a expect at the American food chain, KFC, and their "Finger Lickin' Expert" slogan.

It has a different pregnant that instantly brings a smile and a feeling of something very tasty.

Generic words non to exist used when registering a trademark.

Slogans like this are very mutual when they are being used in advert or commerce.

It also has to exist used consecutively for naught less than five years.

A perfect case of a tagline similar this is "America Runs on Dunkin" by, Dunkin' Donuts.

Slogans that can't be trademarked

Proceed in mind that you can't trademark every slogan you see.

Some slogans can't exist registered as a trademark

Eventually, it is impossible to get approved for a Trademark for generic words, some of them denied trademark slogans examples are:

• Walmart –Trademark Denied
  Words or tagline which has generic meaning, An example of such is from Walmart, who wanted to trademark "The yellowish smiley face design" got denied as the courtroom strongly ruled that the smiley confront is public domain.
• Harley Davidson – Trademark Denied
  Tagline or phrases utilize common products or services promotional words like Harley Davidson, who wanted to trademark "The audio of a revving engine" got denied due to other manufacturers complained that their engines sounded exactly the same.

In all situations, the intellectual property that will exist trademarked must be distinctive and unique.

The same manner yous tin can trademark a slogan, it can besides exist washed to a logo, business proper noun, symbol, phrase or a blend of diverse elements

Why a Trademarked Slogan or a Tagline is important

A slogan "such as a tagline or phrase" can attain value over time. Information technology can too play a significant role in the success of your concern.

And then it is vital to protect any phrase you use to safeguard the identity of your company against infringements. This can only exist done past registering the slogan for trademark.

In one case this is done, you lot are protected by law throughout the country. Your competitors or other similar businesses cannot hinder your success past making apply of a similar phrase to promote or sell their goods and services.

Let'southward get into details of the kinds of phrases or slogans that can be trademarked. Nosotros'll also talk about the steps to take to annals them.

Most times, people get dislocated when the event of trademarking a phrase arises. This becomes more hard when they discover how many everyday and common phrases are registered with the U.Due south. Patent and Trademark Office.

Importance of Registering a Slogan – A Brand Identity.

Understand that registering a trademark does not stop the employ of the phrase in future use. What it does is to strictly prevent your competitors from using the phrase or anything similar in selling a service or product like yours.

Coming up with a Slogan

After several brainstorming sessions, you've settled on a slogan – the perfect combination of cursory, witty and informative.

Y'all display information technology conspicuously on all your marketing messages, social media, and website. The best part is, your customers are non just responding well to it, they also honey it.

At this moment, even though you lot haven't filed any paperwork, a trademark has already been created.

One good matter going on for your business organisation is that y'all are protected locally from all kinds of infringement attempts on your right to profit from the phrase y'all've chosen.

With the corporeality of effort you had to put into coming up with an awesome tagline, the platonic thing to practise is to ensure you lot no 1 can turn a profit from it. Regardless of the company's size and location.

Keeping the slogan exclusively to yourself is the next step.

To practise this, you would have to file a registration with USPTO (the United states Patent and Trademark Function)

Essential Steps to Trademark Your Name or Phrase

The first footstep in this procedure is to carry out a search of registered marks. This is to ensure that you are actually the offset to use this phrase for your business.

Practice a Trademark Search:

• Go through the TESS database of USPTO to ensure that your chosen slogan has not been trademarked by another person.
• The moment you've confirmed this, you lot can now submit a trademark application to the USPTO.
• One time your awarding is received, the review process will outset immediately.

After you've submitted your slogan application with the USPTO. You lot accept to pay the filing fee to continue the procedure.

Searching USPTO to ensure that the phrase is original.

Your application should incorporate:

1. Specimen of the trademark
2. Statement of use
3. Drawing of the trademark
4. List of other established instances of the use

Now is the time to be patient, equally this procedure may span several months. Commonly, it tin can have between five months to a year.

During this period, hither are some of the things that would happen;

An attorney will review your application. Your application will be thoroughly vetted to ensure it does non disharmonize or borrow upon any trademark that has been already registered.

The moment your phrase is deemed unique, information technology will be verified, and your awarding will exist moved to the next phase, which is the Publication stage.

This is the stage where your trademark registration is put on a detect nationwide. In this stage, all parties are given a adventure to object to your application if they believe an infringement has taken place.

The moment your phrase successfully passes through the publication stage, the chaser in charge of reviewing your application will carry out a final verification. If this is successful, congratulations, you've finally gotten a registered trademark. At present, you accept adequately protected your slogan from whatever kind of infringement, thanks to your trademark registration. At this point, information technology may wait like your chore is done. On the contrary, your task is not over yet. Equally the trademark holder, you take to exist on alert that no business concern infringes on your intellectual property. The ball is in your court to either exist proactive or not.  After 5 years, your trademark registration has to be renewed once more.

Here are some things to call up.

Ideally, your slogan or phrase is considered to be "in use" the moment y'all start the trademark registration process.

What this means is that you have publicly declared the slogan in connection with your company or business. If the slogan does not enter the "in apply" condition, you'll take to go through extra steps during registration. Too, a mode to know if there's an infringement on your trademark is if there's a risk of defoliation between your service or product with that of another company.

As a effect, not every instance of the slogan is protected, simply those that can be easily mistaken for your company or offering, and could pose a problem for your business organisation.

The importance of starting the trademark registration process for your slogan cannot be understated. You need to start as shortly as possible.

The trademark registration procedure can sometimes stretch for months but shouldn't take more than than eight months.

For months, nothing would be done on your awarding, simply a patient wait should an objection or review occur.

You are in a favorable position to fight against an infringement claim, different in a state of affairs where you accept to make a merits against some other person or business that may exist infringing on your slogan.

This can happen if your slogan becomes a lucrative commodity faster than you lot wait.

By safeguarding yourself beforehand, you can avoid any grade of legal problems and prospective business losses in the futurity.

Advantages of Trademarking a Slogan

ane. Protection from other competitors

The moment you've registered all the basics, your slogan, proper noun of business concern, logo, etc. You lot tin can carry out your operations without any worries.

This implies that other companies in the aforementioned line of business organisation as you cannot employ your slogan in whatsoever way. Should a state of affairs like this occur, y'all can take them to court with an assurance that y'all'll win.

two. Build a customer's trust

When your customers place your trademark slogan every time they purchase your goods or services, they are sure that it is authentic.

This way, you lot get to build trust betwixt you and your customers.

3. Your business and brand name is protected on social media

About social media platforms similar Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest take strict policies when it comes to trademarks.

This is the reason well-nigh businesses have social media accounts with these unique make names. Companies trust that their interests are always protected.

If an private or a competitor creates a page or account using your trademark slogan in any grade.

At that place'south no need to worry, all you have to do is to provide prove to back up your claim.

In no time, the account or page will exist taken down or suspended. The URL can and so be used to create your own account or business page.

4. You can validate your business

Before you launch your business and you lot start spending lots of attempt and time in make marketing with a particular slogan. You will know if another person is using the slogan when y'all begin the registration procedure.

This way, y'all become to avoid the pitfall of changing your slogan over again, so your customers don't lose touch with your business organisation.

Information technology would not be helpful to find out afterwards a year or two that yous demand to rebrand because your chosen slogan is in employ by another business.

five. Increases the value to your business

In the future, should y'all make up one's mind you want to sell your company, you'll be at an reward.

The value of your visitor is higher with a registered slogan when compared to a company that doesn't have one still.

Potential buyers are assured that they can proceed the brand's slogan for as long as they desire.

6. Protection against Cybersquatting

By having a registered trademark, no i tin can purchase a domain name with your trademark. If it happens and you become aware of it, yous can asking to have information technology shut downwardly. You can file this request with the domain visitor where the domain proper noun was registered.

vii. It is inexpensive to annals a trademark.

There is an erroneous notion by lots of people that information technology is expensive to trademark a slogan. Aught can be farther from the truth.

In fact, the opposite is the example. Information technology doesn't cost much, and it would salvage yous a lot when compared to the stress of having an unprotected slogan.

eight. You Can Lay Claim to Your Advertizing Campaign

At that place are several companies that oftentimes use a item slogan in their advert campaign.

If this situation applies to your business organisation, it is advisable for you to get exclusive rights to that slogan.

Advertizement campaigns that meet the requirements in a higher place are eligible.

ix. You Tin can Build Your Brand

The moment you have a trademark, you can end others from using or profiting from your distinctive, and creative slogan.

This way, your business will stand up out and get the attention it needs to grow. Your brand will also become more desirable to your customers.

Disadvantages of Registering a Trademark

ane. Government procedures

A lot of people dread dealing with the regime most of the fourth dimension. This is considering of how stressful it is.

The processes for registration are e'er long, and with several bureaucratic bottlenecks, yous'll take to expect for a long time to get what yous need.

2. The amount of time and effort needed to get a trademark

Most people are e'er busy and do not have the time or the patience to get through with trademark registration. As a business organization owner, at that place are several things that require your firsthand attention daily. It becomes more challenging if you run the entire business lone.

The paperwork to file a trademark is quite much, and you'll take to fill out each and every one.

When you want to register, there are other things needed for you that you'll have to become.

3. A dispute can notwithstanding arise

During the waiting period, anyone who feels you're infringing on their slogan or that yous don't have a right to a particular slogan can claiming your trademark.

The simply way to settle this is in a law court and it would price you a ton in legal fees.

iv. Your Slogan Is Purely Descriptive

If your slogan falls in this category, you can't file a trademark for it.

This means that information technology merely describes your company'south offerings. This falls brusque of the requirements by the USPTO.

5. A slogan can be yours without a trademark

Any business tin prefer a slogan for their brand without registering a trademark. This leaves them vulnerable to exploitation.

To exist on the safe side, and to stop others from profiting from or using information technology, a trademark has to be filed.

6. Yous don't Utilize the Slogan Oft

Fifty-fifty a distinctive and creative slogan might not meet the criteria for trademark. If legitimate use has not been established already, your case might non exist strong enough to register your trademark. Before making a decision concerning your business, it is reasonable to consider the pros and cons. In this example, y'all know what you need to do.

It doesn't thing if the process will have a while before your trademark application is accustomed. In the end, the benefits your business will get from it would outweigh whatever you went through to become information technology.

It makes no sense to invest in a company or advertizement campaign that could pose a problem in the future, all because you lot didn't become a trademark for your slogan.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How much does information technology toll to Trademark a slogan?

• The filing fee for a USPTO trademark is between $225 – $400.
• You lot will have to pay extra for some amendments, extensions, and maintenance.

2. How Long Does It Take to Trademark a Slogan?

• Afterward your application has been filed, you should go a response in six months or less.
• Nearly trademark applications are approved past the USPTO within a yr.

3. How Long Do Slogan Trademarks Terminal?

• When a slogan is actively used, the trademarks will final for 10 years.
• All trademarks can be renewed indefinitely.

4. Trademark Renewal

The renewal dates are very important. If they are ignored, the USPTO will be forced to abolish your registration.

• Apart from the requirement to prove that yous're using your trademark frequently, you have to renew the registration every 10 years.
• The renewal normally costs more. Presently, the regime fee is pegged at $300 for each class of goods or services.
• The renewal and The Declaration of Use are done through the official website of the USPTO website. This is washed via TEAS, the bureau's electronic filing arrangement.
• The required information can be entered in a class, credit card information, and upload images, and you'll become a confirmation past email.
• All dates for renewal are measured from the appointment your trademark registration was issued. Information technology is important non to misfile this for the date the awarding was filed or the date the application was published.

5. What slogans y'all can't trademark

These slogans yous tin can't brand your trademark

• You tin't trademark an Informational slogan.
• You can't trademark slogans that are entertaining or informational nature especially if they're nonprofit.

6. Trademarking Mere Ornamentations are not allowed

Some trademarks comprise original designs. All design elements must be important to a logo.

The USPTO does not allow trademarks for elements made merely for looks. In addition, the USPTO does not grant trademarks for artworks that are original.

7. Not Using Your Trademarked Slogan

If y'all do not have intentions of using a slogan, you should not file a trademark awarding. This often leads to trademark cancellation, abandonment, and nonuse.

When this happens, other parties or businesses tin use abandoned or canceled trademarks. The moment y'all do this, the possibility of losing your exclusive rights increases.

viii. Non Maintaining Your Trademark

As required by the USPTO, all trademark owners are mandated to proceed registration then the trademark can be kept active. You lot have to prove continuous use 5 years after your starting time trademark engagement. Y'all also need to request it'south renewal every ten years.

If this necessary maintenance is not done, the USPTO volition not hesitate to cancel the trademark.

9. If my slogan is trademarked in the United states, does it works for the rest of the earth?

Co-ordinate to The U.S. Patent and Trademark Function, if a slogan is trademarked in the US, it doesn't utilize to the rest of the world. Trademarks and Patents are territorial. To be recognized outside the shores of America, it must be filed in every country they seek protection.

If y'all are looking to trademarking a concern, read our  guide almost How to Trademark a Visitor Name

There are several ways to annals a trademark internationally without the demand for registering in each country. The international registration system is known as the Madrid Protocol or Madrid system.

Source: https://brandnic.com/how-to-trademark-a-slogan/

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