How to Protect Your Brand from Competitors
Branding is often one of the most difficult and most rewarding tasks for business. As most businesses' most valuable asset is their brand, it's important to be strategic in determining and protecting your brand.
With a strong brand and identity to define your business, the next big question that comes to your mind is, “How do I protect my brand?”
How to protect a brand?
Protecting your brand involves identifying and registering the individual aspects of your brand that can be protected.
Get Legal Assistance: Identifying if and how your brand can be protected usually involves intellectual property expertise. Find a lawyer to take care of all the legal issues related to your business.
Copyright your brand: Visual works and pieces of literature can be copyrighted. Therefore you should copyright your logo, music or any other form of original work to prevent others from using it without your consent. These are registered with the United States Copyright Office.
Trademark your brand: The United States Trades and Patent Office has defined trademark as, “a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.” Getting the individual trademarks registered that comprise your brand helps protect your business.
Think about Public Relations: Have a plan to deal with media inquiries. If a reporter calls, are you simply going to answer "no comment," or will you use this as an opportunity to present your message?
Online Businesses
If your business sells products online, you're potentially exposing your business to hundreds of overlapping legal regimes, which can make it difficult to fully protect your brand if you aren't prepared. Some important steps include:
Getting a domain: Registering your domain (including domains with similar spelling) can protect your online brand. Purchasing domains like .com, .net, .org are the preferred versions for branding.
Online Brand Reputation: Track customer behavior online. Find out what people are saying about your brand. It also becomes important to track how well your online marketing strategies are working.
Utilize social media platforms: Learn to manage your social media account from a single location. You might need to hire a social media expert to take care of your social media activities most efficiently. Keep your brand on top by delivering a consistent brand image. When people are aware of your brand, the chances of the name getting hijacked by the competitors are less.
Protecting your brand involves a calculated mix of legal and business acumen, so if you're serious about developing a brand, don't skimp on the experts. In case you feel the need to consult an attorney, The Watson Firm is here to help. Get in touch with us by calling at 205.545.7278 or by filling the form on this page.