Business

7 Tips To Prevent Trademark Application Rejections

By Ryan Bradman | August 30, 2022

With saturation happening in many industries today, it’s crucial for businesses to source out artistic brands, ideas, and logos for them to stand out from the competition. However, others can easily plagiarize and copy these assets if they’re not trademarked. The ultimate benefit of applying for a trademark is that you can presume ownership of something without having to prove it.

After a long brainstorming process, it’d be distressing if your trademark application gets rejected. Not only will you be wasting all the time you exerted, but there might be chances that your competitors will beat you to a similar concept or idea. Therefore, it’s crucial to prepare your brand in the most successful ways to avoid trademark application rejections. And, one good news is that there are office action response providers who can help you mitigate any issues so you can get approved.

7 Tips To Prevent Trademark Application Rejections

1. Scan Through Trademark Databases For Similarities

Depending on your location, there are different trademark databases found in each country. To prevent getting disapproved for your trademark application, the first step to take is to scan through these databases for any similar marks as yours. If you can find any similarities with other brands, doing some the necessary modifications as early as possible is crucial before you submit your trademark application.

Many business people often overlook this step. But, you can’t afford to bypass this step as it’ll only cause a delay for your trademark application and more expenses for your business. Conducting a trademark search may cost you some bucks initially, but that’s relatively better than paying for trademark applications all over again once you get rejected. Also, it’s crucial to realize that there are even possibilities of being in an infringement case and getting sued by other trademark owners if you forgo this step.

2. Ensure To Avoid Confusion

One crucial step to preventing trademark application rejection is to ensure that your trademark content is straightforward and won’t make the public feel confused with it. This means it’s not entirely close to any other brand. There might be instances when one brand differs from another only by one letter. It’s best to avoid such instances.

Researching trademark databases will help you avoid confusion among the public. Ensure that your term, in spelling and form, won’t be confused with that of another brand. Trademark assessors will search for trademark names in the plural and singular forms, so ensure to check the same way.

3. Be Keen With The Filing Dates

Much like applying for other crucial documents and licenses, government offices are strict with schedules and dates. As a responsible business owner, you must keep up with the deadlines. Note down the filing date, and follow up if you haven’t received feedback and results yet.

Acquiring a trademark for your business should be your utmost priority. To prevent your competitors from registering your trademark as their own, you need to register yours as soon as possible. This can save you from losing customers and revenues altogether.

4. Don’t Use Generic Names Or Logos

Another mistake some businesses make is keeping their trademark symbol or name too simplified. While it’s not entirely wrong to be minimalistic and simple with your marks, some people make the mistake of using generic ones instead. Trademark agencies won’t accept marks that come with a generic term in your brand, logo, or name.

So, if you’re applying for a trademark with two or more words for a brand or name, some generic terms won’t be trademarked along with the other characters. And, you have to agree to a disclaimer for it. Not doing so will get your application rejected automatically. Therefore, the key here is to eliminate any generic and common nouns on your brand and marks.

5. Create A New Term

Inventing a new term in the industry can be a great idea to be trademarked. Just make sure your company is the inventor and creator of that newly coined term, and you need to trademark it as soon as possible.

To ensure that your wordmark is registered without objection, this is the surest way to do so. You should come up with new words that are unique and distinct.

Keep your customers involved by making it trending on social media or through word-of-mouth. This new term is entirely unique, and as long as it doesn’t mimic anyone else’s brand, it should be an excellent term for your trademark. Trademark assessors will likely approve new industry terms that you invented yourself for your brand.

6. Make Sure Your Application Forms Are Flawless

Many trademark applications get rejected when the application form is too messy and sketchy. All the details should be filled in correctly and free of all kinds of errors when filing an application for registration.

While filling up any personal information and contact details, and attaching specimens, ensure to review them at least two to three times more before submitting the application. This allows you to change if there were typographical errors and missing details.

The trademark office goes through your application forms first, and they can be rejected even in this early stage if they see any errors, even minor ones. When a registrar finds a mistake in an application, your form will be sent back to you so you can rectify the issue.

Unfortunately, this will only delay your trademark application even more. Therefore, before filing the application form, have another person check and audit it thoroughly, so there are no more errors and mistakes.

7. Ensure That The Trademark Content Is Ethical And Moral

This tip might be more of common sense than a rule for trademark applications, but it still needs to be emphasized. A trademark must not violate public morality or order. Go for a term or mark that’s ethical and moral and doesn’t offend or degrade any individual, gender, race, or company.

The registrar will automatically reject any mark that’s offensive in nature, so stay away from choosing terms that might otherwise come with a double meaning. Evaluate some words or symbols with negative connotations, and consider evaluating them from a worldwide view, as your brand can be purchased globally, too. If it becomes offensive to some other cultures, it can be controversial and may cause your business to suffer.

Conclusion

A trademark is an essential asset for any company nowadays. In fact, this can be one way to attract and impress new clients. Therefore, stay ahead of the game and be on top of your industry by registering your trademark as soon as possible. Hopefully, the tips above can help prevent your trademark application from being rejected.