Back in the day, the foremost concern on every business owners’ mind was theft. Thanks to the internet, there are new problems that threaten businesses everywhere — theft of intellectual property, infringement, and sabotage are only some of them. It’s important to be vigilant when it comes to brand protection. Protecting your brand ultimately protects your brand’s integrity. When you don’t secure your brand, you risk losing time and money that is better spent elsewhere. Here are some precautionary measures to consider when protecting your business and ideas:
Establish and enforce your MAP
Customers often associate price with brand value. When sellers advertise your product below the minimum value, your brand integrity declines. Lower priced products mean customers will expect similarly discounted prices in the future. This is why it’s crucial to establish your minimum advertised price (MAP) policy. This ensures that you have consistent pricing across the board.
It’s possible to do this all by yourself. However, it’s more efficient to automate the process. Using a MAP monitoring solution will allow you to maximise your time and effort on other things. An automated MAP monitoring service targets unauthorised sellers and track competitors’ prices. This is the best way to protect both your profit margins and brand integrity.
Trademark your brand
Trademarks protect your intellectual property, which includes but is not limited to artistic works, designs, and software. These are some components that make up your brand identity. It’s important to protect these components by registering a trademark. This prevents intellectual property theft and verifies that you own these materials. You’ll be preserving your brand’s name, designs, and anything associated with your brand.
When creating your brand, remember to be distinct. A generic brand name offers less protection than a unique one. The success of your application for a trademark also depends on this. A successful applicant’s brand avoids the likelihood of confusion with another brand. Your brand must not be similar in appearance, sound, and meaning to another’s company. Consumers should not make the mistake of confusing you with another company.
Your application should also bear no similarity with established entities such as geographic locations, titles of books and/or movies, and names. Avoiding these increases the likelihood of the acceptance of your trademark application.
Secure your branded real estate online
It’s a good idea to buy all variations of your branded domains before anyone else can. All forms of your .com domain should be in your possession, including .org and .net variants. You should also claim social media handles and directory listings. Competitors often buy domains to sell them back to you for an exorbitant amount. This is especially common when your brand receives a lot of exposure.
Prepare to go global
Don’t limit yourself to local protection. You also need to protect your brand in other territories throughout the globe. Since laws are different in every country, you need to take note of these distinctions. This will be helpful once you grow on an international scale. It also provides protection against theft and infringement from foreign competitors.
Incidents of theft, sabotage and infringement will always be an ongoing issue. Your brand will always be at risk, no matter how business-savvy you are. That’s why taking precautionary steps to protect your brand’s integrity is of paramount importance.
