People have asked me why Trademark a business name. Provided you have the url for the name, there is a degree of security that your name and brand will allow you to stay in business. If you don’t own the .com, it is always possible that traffic intended to go to you may be diverted elsewhere. When I first opened a clinic under Be Well Now, I did not realize that I should ™ the name. In fact, through a series of errors, I did not even secure the .com url. When I sought legal help to keep my business name afloat, I was told that there was no law at the time that protects the url. Now that has changed.
After years of saying- “Bowen First”, I realized that not only was it a procedural IP step in the way I ran my practice, but it became a pillar of an overall approach to healing. People should do Bowen first before deciding on the best next steps in their healing journey. Years later, I finally applied for the ™ of BowenFirst® and because it was approved, I can now put ® for registered.
As for the College – The Bowen College Inc, with the Reboot Your World logo, I got the design registered. I also applied for Reboot® in all is variations, Reboot Your Body®, Reboot Your World®, Reboot Your Practice®…as I planned out my long term objectives. I was able to™ and register the ™ in Canada for all purposes, but there were limitations in other countries.
I have used the word Reboot® very early on, well before it became so popular and therefore was able to secure the ™. But as the term has become so used, I have not bothered to make it an issue when others use it. My College is protected, and my intellectual property is also protected.
In essence, you might be wondering what is the difference between ™ & ® trademark?
The trademark rules keep on changing from region to countries so we can’t be certain about all the rules, but the general idea & difference between the two is:
™ – It can generally be used by any person or business to indicate that this word or logo is intended to serve as an identifier for the product or service. Most people and brands use it for their new product or service.
® – The R symbol indicates that this word, phrase, logo has been successfully trademarked. It can only be used by the people who have registered or have permission to use it.
IP: Is your intellectual Product which includes the methods and delivery of the content which is unique to you and differentiate you in the market place.
I hope the above information helps.
