A registered trademark ensures that your business’s recognizable sign or logo legally identifies the products and services of your business. Once registered, that trademark becomes the property of your business. It is only your business that has the right to use that trademark. This matter of business ownership is covered by trademark law.
Over time, however, you may find yourself wanting to rebrand your business. This refers to the process of changing your company’s corporate image by developing new marketing materials, names, symbols, and logos, among others. Perhaps the logos and symbols you’ve registered are now outdated. Or your business is going through an image change. Whatever the cause may be, the need to rebrand is not something unusual.
If you’re keen on rebranding your trademark according to the Florida trademark registration laws or the equivalent in your local area, you’ve come to the right place. This article will cover some tips you’ll need to know for trademark rebranding.
Start with Your Business Reason
Before you even go through business rebranding, start with the very core reason why you’re rebranding in the first place. Is this something driven by your desire to be more competitive? Or are you looking for business growth? Whatever that reason is, it’s entirely personal to your business.
To give you an idea, here are some of the most common reasons for rebranding:
- You’re launching new products and services online;
- You need to compete at a higher market level;
- You’re changing your entire business image;
- Your current trademark brand is no longer a reflection of who you are as a business entity;
- You have a compelling legal reason driving this need to change.
Starting with your business reason ensures your business will achieve the intended objective for rebranding.
Follow the Latest Trends – without Overdoing It
If your reason for rebranding is for your brand and trademark to be updated, it could only mean that you want to keep up with what the latest trends are. Logos and symbols trends change over time. When your business has been long operative, it’s normal to feel as if your current branding doesn’t look relevant and recent.
Start with your logo. Strike that balance between creating a fresh and modern logo while still fitting your products or services. You’ll want to rebrand according to the trends but also create one that can be relevant for a long time. Remember that it’s only a matter of time before the next trends come along. The last thing you want is to rebrand quite frequently.
Pay Attention to Your Logo
One of the most crucial facets of your trademark and brand is your logo. Before moving forward to the other elements of your brand, focus on your logo. You can change it without making drastic alterations. Otherwise, the memory recall of your target customers with your brand will be affected. When your logo has already stuck in the minds of the public, you wouldn’t want to change it drastically all because you wanted to rebrand.
Understand Your Mission, Vision, and Values
Trademark rebranding doesn’t necessarily have to mean changing your company’s mission, vision, and values. Those are the core of your business. They can remain, while still giving you the opportunity to successfully rebrand.
When rebuilding your brand, aligning it with your mission, vision, and values gives you a solid base. Some of the factors you’ll have to consider include:
- Consider what it is that makes your company special;
- Go back to the core of why your business exists;
- Match your brand’s voice and tone with the new messaging and theme you’re trying to get across through rebranding.
Incorporating your mission, vision, and values in your new logo, tagline, or mascots gives it more meaning and connection to your business.
Research Your New Target Clients
This fifth tip applies if the reason you have in mind for rebranding is that you’re trying to reach out to a new audience. In this case, you have to revise your market study so it can also include your new target clients. Gather their profiles and information such as their age, location, and interests and see to it that they can relate to your new logo or tagline ideas.
Be as objective as you can with this research. That way, you can avoid any potential blind spots that can make you lose your loyal clients. If you don’t perform your research objectively, you could be making the mistake of basing your trademark rebranding on false assumptions.
Check for Earlier Trademarks
Even if you’re simply rebranding, this doesn’t mean that the chance of hitting a match with an already established trademark isn’t possible. You can’t take this risk, or else you can fall into serious legal trouble. Remember that the trademark laws grant full ownership and brand exclusivity to the registered trademark owner. You can unknowingly be using a trademark for your rebranding that already exists.
With that in mind, here are some tips you can apply when checking for earlier trademarks:
- Note that many trademarks are country-specific. If your purpose for trademark rebranding is to reach international shores, you must strive to file for trademarks in each country.
- When searching for earlier trademarks, don’t just go through those which are already registered. Be sure to check for pending registrations as well. They will be given priority over you. So, if there’s a trademark like yours, your application may be denied.
- Apply early, so you can secure priority over your trademark rebranding registration.
Collaborate with Your Team
Your team knows your business just as well as you do. So, in the pursuit of rebranding, don’t forget to collaborate with your team. The people who tirelessly work every day to make your business grow are just as valuable an asset as your trademark and brand are.
So, be sure to include your team’s opinions in your decisions. They can provide valuable insights, feedback, and ideas in the trademark rebranding process you’re going through.
Final Thoughts
To stay competitive, businesses will often decide that they need to rebrand. Change is constant, and that brings about the desire to evolve. When you do so, your business doesn’t just stay competitive, it also stays current and relevant. If you think this year is the best time for you to successfully rebrand your trademark, take note of the tips above. They can help ensure your trademark rebranding will be a successful pursuit.
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