Aug. 26, 2018

How to Choose A Great Brand

Choosing a brand isn’t just about a design brief, or deciding on colours, fonts and symbols.

It’s also important to be guided by a trade mark brief, which is where TMJAM can help. You need to ensure that your brand is legally robust. First, your brand needs to be capable of operating as a trade mark. Secondly, the brand should ideally be used without conflicting with other brands.

To help you out, we've put together a checklist to consider when you devise a brand:

1. Is my brand similar or identical to a competitor’s brand?

2. Is my brand similar or identical to a famous or well-known brand?

3. Is my brand similar or identical to an overseas brand in the same industry as mine?

4. Does my brand contain elements descriptive of the goods and services I intend to use the trade mark for?

5. Is my brand suggestive of the goods and services I intend to use the trade mark for?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, it’s best to flick us an email to get our preliminary thoughts. We’re here to help, and we'll suggest you talk to a lawyer if the matter seems like it’s contentious.

Firstly, we can conduct searches of IP Registers to see if your trade mark is available for registration. Apple’s already taken iPhone for smartphones, and Zara’s already got dibs on clothes. This means that you can’t secure a trade mark registration for 'eyePhone' smartphones, or 'Zaraa' clothing.

Secondly, we can conduct a complimentary assessment to see if your brand can properly function as a trade mark. 'Chocolate Cake' for your cake company won’t fly, and neither will 'The Plumbers' for a plumbing business.

However, if you’re really set on a particular brand, we can come up with strategies to try and secure some sort of protection.

TMJAM