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When
starting a new business, you are generally focused on who your target audience
will be, how you are going to market your product and what will make you
different from your competitors. Registering a trademark is very rarely at the
top of any entrepreneur’s list but it should be. Not registering a trademark
for your new brand can have dire consequences as Littergram owner Danny Lucas
discovered.
The app,
Littergram, whose purpose is to promote urban cleanliness, recently came under
fire from Instagram when they tried to register a trademark for their brand in
December 2015. Although the app was officially launched in 2014, the owner
Danny Lucas only decided to file a trademark application for his brand a year
later. Therefore, it is not surprising that when the company did try to
register their brand name the social network giant stepped in to knock them due
to their similar name.
Mr Lucas
appealed their decision to oppose his registration and even produced a video
directed at
Mark Zuckerberg, the now owner of Instagram, asking him to reconsider his
opposition and explaining that if he was not allowed to keep his name that all
of their efforts to get the app off the ground would have been in vain.
Instagram replied that they only objected to the name of the app and that they
could not allow it to coexist alongside theirs due to the fact that they are
both photo sharing apps using social media, which could be confusing for their
clients.
Instagram
has now given Mr Lucas three to sixth months to choose and launch a new name
for his app.
A trademark
is a worthwhile investment as it will protect your brand and allow you to
enforce your trademark rights over other companies that may infringe upon your
mark. As Mr Lucas found out, even small businesses can come under fire from
large corporations if they unknowingly infringe upon their trademarks. Before
choosing your brand name for your business you should always do some research
into the trademark names that are available in your chosen marketplace to
ensure that you won’t meet any opposition. It is also recommended to file a
trademark application before launching your product or services into the
marketplace to ensure that they are fully protected.
For advice and more information on searching,
acquiring, registering and enforcing Trademarks please visit our website, http://www.lipex.com.
Our unique database of trademarks for sale or
license could save you time and help protect your brand.
Original article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-36148093
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