If you are a beginner and new to the business, trying to find out how to create a brand mark or register your brand to protect your business, then you are at the right spot. This guide on trademark selection will help you coin a good trademark and get it registered without any objections. Before we begin, we need to understand why having a unique, distinctive, and different trademark will be a game-changer for your business. Every business requires three things to grow – capital, brand reputation, and efficient human resources. Getting money and human resources is one aspect, but building your brand amidst a colossal ocean of business is a task, which makes all difference. Trademarks are an asset to your company. While designing your mark, be extra conscious and very particular about briefing your designer about the do’s and dont’s. If you are out of sight, you are out of mind. That is where a trademark comes to the rescue. A good, well-defined brand will help you grow two times more. Having said all of this, let us directly get into the aspects of what a good trademark is or, to be more precise, how you should select a good brand.
| Consider | Avoid |
| Coined terms | Descriptive terms |
| Fanciful terms | Generic terms |
| Arbitrary terms | Surnames |
| Suggestive marks | Deceptively confusing marks |
| Animal or plant names | Letter acronyms and numbers |
| Unrelated or off the rail terms | Terms that have direct references to characteristics or quality. |
| Terms referring to action or experience | Superlative or laudatory words |
Tips to follow while designing your trademark:
As much as you can, try coining your mark- anything and everything which is out of the box will be a good option. When you use a coined work, it will have no resemblance to anything already in the market. This makes your mark unique and easy to be registered. A coined trademark may be more difficult for consumers to remember at first. It requires efforts in advertising and communication. But it also means that the trademark owner has an excellent opportunity to create a positive association between the mark and their company, products, or services.
How to coin your mark?
It is straightforward and easy- mix and match two or three words and derive a word anew from it. But, make sure that the coined term is not related to the goods or services for which it is used.
Examples of coined terms:
- Kodak for photography
- Canon for camera
- Google for web browsers
- Yahoo for the web browser and mail system
- Spotify for music application
- Sony for the entertainment sector
The next option you can consider will be arbitrary marks- these will have no relation or connection with the goods or services described.
Examples for arbitrary marks:
- Apple for Computers
- Sun in connection with Software
- Amazon for online market shopping
- Shell for gas stations
- Himalaya for beauty and skin products
Suggestive mark:
this is a comparatively less intense mark compared to the above two. These marks will suggest meaning to the words that cannot describe the goods themselves. If nothing strikes your minds, go for these.
Examples of suggestive marks:
- Netflix
- Microsoft
- Jaguar
- Airbus
- Citibank
Animal or Plant names:
When we suffix or prefix plants or animals names to the product name, it makes an altogether unique when because when we consider a trademark; it is always seen as a whole and not in parts.
Example:
- Tiger biscuits
- Lion dates
- Apple computers
- Lotus Herbals
- Lotus software
- Ford mustang
- Butterfly kitchen appliances
Unique first word:
Normally, the product names are not preferred on the mark. If so required, choose a unique name in front of the mark to make it a distinctive character. Terms referring to action or experience will be unique and different. It will have less resemblance to the product or service for which it will be generated.
Now that you know what can be a good trademark, we will now head towards what you can avoid while designing your mark.
- Make sure the mark does not resemble any existing trademark. That is why you also do your trademark search before registration.
- Never have any descriptive words or generic words on your mark- it will reduce registration probability.
- Avoid surnames or personal names – it can quickly be rejected in the preliminary stage itself.
- Never have any term which directly points towards the characteristics or quality of a product. This is possibly an open room for criticism.
- Say bye to short forms: it is just a myth that shorts forms are easy to remember, where these can be more confusing and can lessen the chance of registration.
After a basic idea about what to include and exclude, we will now discuss how to select a trademark for your business. First thing first, clear your mind, have a cup of coffee, sit back, and relax. This will help you to think correctly and come up with good ideas. So, whenever you are thinking about a trademark for your business, you have to:
- Understand your market, the type of good or services you are into, and what can attract the customers
- Write down all possible ideas that come to you
- Apply the elimination test- start eliminating options you think are not up to the mark.
- Now take an expert opinion to guide you in terms of words, designs, colour combinations, etc.
- While designing, keep the above-given checklist in mind, and test your words.
- Connect to a trademark agent to conduct a trademark search to be double sure about the mark you chose.
- Determine the country you want to apply to and find the appropriate class for it
- Go ahead and register
Professional tip: Spend more time in Branding and Trademark designing at the initial stage because it’s all about branding that will make a difference in your business. The more your brand becomes widespread; then it will be more profitable to your business.
