So, your business has traveled down a hard-fought road and you’re now in the ‘green’… SUCCESS! Unfortunately, more often than not, your success may also make you a target for copycats or corner cutters.

Your branding is your first line of communication with customers so be sure to protect your brand – your business name, logo, photos/images, website, taglines/slogans, colors, fonts, domain names, marketing material, etc…

How do I protect my brand?!?

First establish which elements of your company are unique and should be protected. This can include much of your visual identity (logo, business name, colors, fonts, etc…). The most common forms of protection are trademarks, service marks, copyrights, and patents.

A trademark, as defined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), is 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. Used to promote and protect goods or products.

A service mark is the same as a trademark, except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product (USPTO). Used to protect and promote services including, but not limited to, food services, transportation, and insurance.

A copyright, protects works of authorship, such as writings, music, and works of art that have been tangibly expressed (USPTO).

A patent, is a property right granted by the Government of the USA to an inventor “to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States of importing the invention into the United States” for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted (USPTO).

***definitions have been pulled from the USPTO glossary (http://www.uspto.gov/main/glossary/index.html)

Policies, Policies, Policies

If you have multiple departments or several employees, it’s wise to implement brand policies. Here are some examples to help you get started:

Logo Usage: How is your logo to be used, when, and where?

Advertising: What images, colors, fonts, content, etc… can be used?

Customer-Interaction: How are your employees to talk with your clients? Are there any email guidelines? How should they answer the phone?

Social-Media: What is acceptable to be posted?

Website Domains

Prevent people from being able to mirror your site and ruin your brand. Often overlooked, your website domain name can easily be mistyped and it’s a good idea to purchase the mistyped domain names. For instance, gogle.com will redirect you to google.com.

Additionally, be sure to purchase at least the 2 main domain extensions (.com and .net) for your chosen domain name. You can even take it a step further and purchase the .org and include other ways visitors may put in your name. For example, say your business name is The Waterhole, a restaurant/bar, you should consider purchasing the following domains and redirect them to your main site:

waterhole

thewaterhole

waterholerestaurant

waterholebar

Protect your investment

Whatever efforts you make to protect your organization and your brand will pay dividends in the long run, avoiding any frustrations and headaches. »