I talk about brand protection a lot, but I wanted to make sure you knew what it is and what I do to help companies legally protect their brands. I view brand protection as four distinct steps that need to work in concert with each other.

The first step is searching, also known as clearance. This section helps the owner understand how much risk is associated with using their brand, and yes, every brand has legal risk associated with it. Our firm offers a Brand Health Check for $275 which meets this objective. The Brand Health Check also helps you understand what specific next steps you should take.

The next step is authentication. This step frequently includes registration, including trademark registrations with USPTO, but it can include any step that authenticates the brand owner’s ownership of the brand. The registration process involves multiple steps, and our firm offers a set rate for the foreseeable steps after we perform the Brand Health Check.

The third step is policing, which is simply conducting surveillance to see if any use by third parties may infringe your brand rights. This can take many forms, mostly depending on your specific business. Our firm has several partners we use to obtain reports of potential infringements.

The final step is enforcement. This includes any action you take against a party you believe is infringing your rights. It could entail anything from a simple business to business phone call up to a federal lawsuit.

These steps are not one-time events. Proper protection requires regular follow up and, in the case of policing, a regularly scheduled review is optimal.