There is no question that if you want to build and grow a thriving business, you need to protect your intellectual property.
One of the realities of the twenty-first century economy is that consumers have access to a wider array of products and services than at any other point in history. This means that if you are successful to any degree, you will quickly be forced to compete with imitators hoping to profit off of the popularity of your brand.
Not only does this pose a threat to the integrity of your business, but dealing with such imitators can be time-consuming and costly. For this reason, it is important for companies of all sizes to be proactive about protecting their web domains and trademarks through registration.
Web Domain Registration: The Importance of Being Proactive
Every new business needs a website. All the data suggests that a strong web presence is essential for attracting customers, and without a website you’re simply not going to be able to compete in the modern economy.
But simply setting up a functional and attractive website isn’t enough; you also need to be strategic about website domain registration. Your website domain is your digital calling card, and valuable web domains can sell for thousands of dollars. If you want to make sure customers that are looking for your products and services are able to find your web domain, you will need to register it.
You may also want to register a bubble of domain names around it — for example, if your domain name is cooltrucks.ca, you may also want to purchase cooltrucks.com, cooltrucks.org, and cooltrucks.net. This will ensure that competitors can’t hijack potential web traffic by registering a similar web domain.
Registering a Trademark: Why You Should Register Sooner Rather Than Later
Registering domain names is essential if you want to control your web presence, but it’s also important to make sure that any trademarks you use for your products or services are also registered. When it comes to protecting your intellectual property, it isn’t a question of trademark registration vs domain registration but rather how you can use your trademarks and domain registration strategically to strengthen your intellectual property rights and reduce the risk that competitors can benefit from your hard work. Visit trade mark guide to learn more.
Unfortunately, trademark registration is often a much more involved process than domain registration, and many businesses wrongly believe that domain name registration establishes their trademark rights.
That’s why you should definitely consider consulting a trademark attorney.
The truth is that arguing a case of trademark infringement is extremely difficult if you haven’t registered your trademark with the appropriate intellectual property office, which is why it is important to get all of your trademarks registered before you start using them.
This is often an involved process, however, and many businesses find it is easier to hire trademark experts to take care of the process for them. Trademark experts will handle all aspects of the trademark availability search and trademark registration, which takes the financial uncertainty out of the process. Trademark registration can be much more expense or even be prohibited if your trademark is found to already be in use, or if your trademark is overly descriptive.
In an increasingly post-industrial economy, intellectual property is quickly becoming the capital of the twenty-first century. Protecting your intellectual property is essential if you want to build a growing company, and registering your website domain and trademarks is the first and most important step toward securing your intellectual property against competitors.
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