Trademarks are everywhere – anytime you see TM or ® sign, this is an indication of a logo trademark, a name trademark, or a slogan trademark.

Trademarks are words, phrases, designs, symbols, or a combination of these, and are used to distinguish a business or seller of goods. Generally, a registered trademark is most useful for branding purposes. If you want to bring a visual and creative presence to your business that competitors cannot steal or infringe upon, trademark protection is your only option. Coca-Cola® is a unique, successful company because they secured trademark registration on their brand image long ago – now no one can use the trademarked name ‘Coca-Cola’ or use their distinctive trademarked logo to sell soda.

There is more to intellectual property law than patents alone. But, to begin, what does ‘intellectual property’ mean?

Intellectual property is any invention, innovation or work of the mind that someone owns legal rights to. This could include a logo, a new gadget, a catchphrase or slogan, a business process, and many other intangible creative works. With intellectual property rights, inventors are guaranteed exclusive use and ownership of their ideas through patents, copyrights or trademarks – the three major types of intellectual property protection.

However, the inventor is not always able to patent ideas, inventions or creative works they have made, or get trademarks and copyrights on names, slogans or phrases, should they fail to get proper patent protection quickly enough. Copyrighting, trademarking or patenting an idea may be made impossible for an inventor if they do not get patent rights before making their patent idea public. As an inventor, you can avoid this by learning how to patent a product with the potential for profit with the help of an experienced intellectual property attorney who can walk you through the full process of doing a USPTO patent search, filing a provisional patent, and working your way towards full ownership of your idea.