According to an analysis by The Economist, the 10 most valuable brands derive more than 20% of their market value from their brand, not other attributes. With an increasing concentration in this field, the number of conflicts inevitably increases. In CompuMark's research last year, as many as 85% of large companies reported infringements of one of their trademarks.
Given this information, it is not so surprising that there are globally around 10,000 new registration applications every day. For example, L’Oréal, which registered as many as 189. For companies that want to make long-term progress, building and protecting their intellectual property is very important, and neglecting this area can prove to be a fatal mistake. It often happens that a company invests considerable resources in building a brand and promoting a product, only to have to change its name later, due to a conflict with another brand. According to CompuMark's research mentioned above, up to 40% of corporations have experienced something similar.
The trademark will help to avoid such a situation. A trademark is primarily a verbal, visual, or combined sign that helps differentiate your company from the competition. In particular, it protects the name or logo of a company or product by which customers identify the company, contact it, or order its products or services. Once registered, no one will be able to use your brand without your permission. This is also the reason why it is common, in the case of multinational corporations, that the requirement for brand registration is part of the assignment, as well as the contract with branding agencies.
The existence of a trademark not only protects the reputation of the brand from imitators who could reduce its value in the eyes of customers with their low-quality imitations but also simplifies expansion into new markets, where the company can compete with established players without risk, as well as establish strategic partnerships. Last but not least, its existence is also one of the conditions investors have when entering the company.
From practice, we see that many of our clients start dealing with trademark registration only at the point when its non-existence begins to cause them problems - whether it is unfair competition from competitors or a problem in expanding into a new market. And that is oftentimes too late.
That is why at trama we endeavour to speed up and simplify the whole process. Try our free verification of registrability to see if your brand can be protected by a trademark.