A trademark is a guarantee of brand protection and prosperity
17.06.2025 15:02
If you are launching a serious business with an eye to the future, you cannot do without your own trademark (TM). It will become a symbol of your company, increase the recognition of your service or product, and allow you to scale your business faster.
What trademark should you choose, what can be protected, and what business benefits does trademark registration offer?
What is a trademark?
A trademark is a unique symbol, word, phrase, design, logo, or sign made in one color or combination of colors. A logo or sign includes a font of an inscription, a drawing of an image, or a combination of both. A trademark is used to identify a company's goods or services and distinguish them from similar goods or services on the market.
A trademark serves as a visual identifier of a brand and may include textual, graphic and semantic elements.
Elements of the trademark: Lavazza brand Elements of the trademark: Barbie brand
The main characteristics of the TM:
✅ Uniqueness - must be different from other brands to avoid confusion among consumers and to secure its own rights to use it.
✅ Identification - helps to identify a specific manufacturer or supplier of goods or services.
✅ Associations and reputation - can create associations with the quality, value and reputation of the brand, which contributes to customer recognition.
✅ Protection and rights - gives the owner the right to a unique designation of their product, which
How do trademarks work?
Let's imagine that you work in a highly competitive market where a dozen different manufacturers are promoting a similar product. Perhaps you are better, more original, and more efficient in some way, so the number of your loyal customers is growing rapidly, and your business is getting back on its feet. In this case, it's time to think about creating and registering a trademark with which you will offer your product or service and which will allow consumers to easily distinguish your products from competitors.
Important point. Invention and product development ideas are not protected by any patents. Only the material expression of ideas (such as design) or completely new ways of obtaining, developing, or manufacturing something are protected.
What do trademarks protect?
A trademark is an intangible asset of a company. The owner can register one or more marks for his or her product - a word or image in black and white and in color, a single word/phrase, or a combination of both - and use any of the options as needed. Such a set of marks is called a "series of trademarks".
To protect the original shape and color scheme of a product, an industrial design patent is granted. It is this patent that protects the shape and coloring.
What can be registered besides a product?
- Design or appearance as an industrial design if it is new and industrially applicable. For example, a house, a car, a Barbie handbag - all these details are subject to separate registration as part of the Barbie TM registration.
- Color. As a rule, color itself is not protected unless it has received a special feature that makes you associate it with it. For example, Mattel Barbie Pink, a shade of pink appropriated by Mattel, is a separately registered trademark.
- Audio, olfactory, and light marks. Recently, non-standard types of trademarks have begun to be registered abroad. For example, the leather of the seats in Ford Mustang cars, which is made using a special patented technology, is registered as "horse sweat smell".
Trademark, trademark and brand - what's the difference?
The term "trademark" is often associated with the concepts of a trademark, logo, brand. Many people consider them synonymous. In fact, this is not entirely true. First of all, Ukrainian law does not currently regulate the concept of a trademark in any way. However, in many countries, this term is legally considered synonymous with a trademark.
A brand is a much broader concept that encompasses reputation, long history, and high (usually) quality of a product or service. A trademark is just one of its components, which makes a product or its elements easier to recognize in the market. A logo is usually registered as part of a trademark.
Brand protection on the example of Mattel, the manufacturer of Barbie
Mattel, a multinational company in the United States, is an excellent example of how to use intellectual property protection tools for the benefit of a brand. The company has 34 unique brands that have become popular due to timely trademark registration. The most famous of them are Barbie, Monster High, and Hot Wheels. Barbie accounts for 58% of the company's gross sales in the dolls' category.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization's search engine Patentscope, Mattel, Inc. owns 6292 titles of protection - patents. The latest invention published this year is a support structure for babies.
The first patent for a Barbie doll (photo from the archive of mmr.ua)
What does trademark registration give to a business?
➢ Protection from competition. The owner receives the exclusive right to their goods or services. This prohibits other companies from using similar brands and their elements, which will help preserve brand value and reduce competition.
➢ Brand value. TM registration can increase the value of a business, as it creates an additional asset in the form of intellectual property.
➢ Possibility of licensing and franchising. The owner of the TM can grant licences for its use to other companies or manufacturers for money. This also creates an opportunity for franchising activities.
➢ A franchise is a profitable and widespread way to monetize intellectual property, and it is beneficial both for the franchisor to earn money on sales and for the franchisee to start a business with a name with relatively small investments.
Mattel entered into about 100 license agreements before the release of the Barbie movie. That is, it granted permission for other companies to use the attributes of the Barbie brand in their own production. The Warner Bros. movie Barbie is a license.
➢ Protection against copying and counterfeiting. Registration creates additional protection for the product against illegal use and counterfeiting. TM is the right to identity, the inimitability of the original.
➢ Greater consumer confidence. A registered TM indicates the professionalism and stability of the brand, which can increase consumer confidence and promote a positive perception of the company.
➢ Easier access to court. Registration allows the TM owner to more easily defend their rights in court in case of violations or complaints from consumers, as the registered trademark has a higher status of protection before the law.
When is it better to register a TM?
The decision to register a trademark lies entirely with the entrepreneur. However, as practice shows, it is better not to delay this procedure. If your competitor obtains the rights to a similar TM faster than you, they will be able to take away some of your customers and harm your business. You will have to start all over again or simply buy your trademark for a lot of money later
Therefore, the best option is to file for trademark registration before entering the wide market. This will protect your product or service from competitors, help you retain loyal customers, increase the overall value of your company or product, and provide an opportunity to sell a franchise and earn regular income.
In general, trademark registration is an important tool for protecting and developing business, which helps companies create their own unique brand and maintain its value in the market.
For specific advice on trademark registration in the context of a particular business, we recommend that you contact legal professionals or patent agents.
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