Every business organization, regardless of size, product being sold, services undertaken, years of operation or organizational structure, must ensure it defines a unique identity for itself. 

A distinctive business name, logo, slogan, imagery and other markers are crucial for creating an in-a-class-by-itself identity and perception in the minds of target customers and the public. Protecting your business’s brand – a very valuable intangible asset—is essential for the overall success of the outfit in a highly competitive business sphere plagued by identity theft issues and sharp practices to gain undue advantage.

This article delves into effective legal considerations and brand protection strategies for safeguarding your business’s identity markers to retain customer trust, maintain a strong reputation and gain a competitive edge.

Trademarks

The first line of defense in protecting your business’s brand is through acquiring trademarks. A trademark protects your business name, logo, slogan, or any other element that distinguishes your brand from others. Trademarks are a common method businesses use to protect their brand identity and prevent unauthorized use. The expert guidance of a business lawyer is invaluable in identifying elements of your brand that need protection and guiding you through the trademark registration process.

Registering a trademark can seem intimidating, but it’s a straightforward process with the proper guidance. This is where a business attorney becomes invaluable. They can help you identify what elements of your brand need protection and guide you through the process.

Copyrights

Beyond trademarks, copyrights are another essential legal tool. Copyrights protect your business’s original content—things like blog posts, marketing materials, photos, and videos. A copyright gives you the legal right to control how your content is used. Although obtaining a copyright is a relatively simpler process, having a business attorney by your side in case a dispute arises will be a step in the right direction.

Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)  

While trademarks and copyrights protect the business’s brand from outsiders, NDAs defend it from within. Employees, contractors, business associates and potential M&A partners must sign NDAs to maintain confidentiality.

This is vital to getting adequate legal backing to sue insiders who breach trust for personal use or sell essential brand information and trade secrets to competitors. A small business lawyer can draft a watertight NDA that helps protect confidential information.

Domain Names and Digital Presence

In today’s digital age, having an active online presence is as essential as a physical one. Your website is often the first point of contact for potential customers, so protecting your domain name is necessary. 

Registering your domain name and protecting against variations of it to prevent competitors from capitalizing on your brand’s success is a necessary action.  A business attorney can advise you on legal strategies to secure digital assets, such as domain names and social media handles.

Maintaining Brand Consistency

Another critical consideration in safeguarding your business’s brand is brand consistency. Maintaining a uniform business identity helps to build trust and continued patronage. The business name, logo, symbol and slogan should be uniform and used consistently when they appear on the business’s website, social media pages, company assets and all other customer touchpoints. 

Inconsistency in branding not only confuses customers but also weakens legal protection. It is legally impossible to enforce trademarks or copyrights if you use them inconsistently. A business attorney with sound knowledge of intellectual property protection will help fashion a brand usage policy that keeps everything aligned.

Police your Brand

This may be the most important step of all. Only when the business owner is aware of infringement on the business’s brand can a counter-action be taken. A brand policing measure must be put in place to detect potential cases of identity theft easily. 

You can purchase comprehensive monitoring services and software subscriptions that include monitoring unregistered and registered trademarks and other types of intellectual property. These can be costly, but you can tailor the package to suit your particular business and needs, depending on the frequency, breadth and level of sophistication of the filtering of the results.

Takedown Notices

A takedown notice is a way of requesting the removal of infringing content from websites and other platforms – especially online marketplace. It is necessary to check with your business lawyer if the content truly infringes your copyright, registered trademark or design, as the institution written to will also conduct its own intellectual property research to ascertain your infringement claim. 

Your takedown notice may be accepted or disregarded depending on the outcome of the research, which is based on their own intellectual property policy. 

Cease and Desist Letter

You might succeed in getting infringing content removed from websites or other platforms. Still, the infringing party can only be stopped from using the content at any other time by issuing a ‘cease and desist letter.’ 

This informs infringing parties that legal action will be taken should they use the content again under any guise. A cease and desist letter clearly states the infringement committed, remedial action and the deadline for compliance before legal action is taken. Once the infringing party is properly identified, a business lawyer is duty-bound to draft and administer the cease and desist letters.

Published by: Nelly Chavez