I spend a lot of time talking about one of my favorite (really!) topics – trademark protection for brands. Like most things that get better with practice, the more often I explain the process to clients, the easier it is to boil it down to a few simple, top level steps.

And so here, the 4 “Easy Steps” to brand trademark protection that Agencies and their clients need to know:

Step 1: Trademark Clearance

Clearance is the most critical step in brand trademark protection, primarily because it’s the step that involves the most judgment and decision-making during the branding process. Of course, I encourage clients to start their clearance due diligence with some cost-free research by using the internet search engines and the searching tool at www.uspto.gov, and by also checking available domain names, but doing so always causes me some nail biting. Why? Because too many Agencies or client marketers think this is the finish line rather than the starting point. All the above measures are great way to save time by knocking out possibilities before you waste too much time on them, but they’re not comprehensive enough to give you your answer. True trademark clearance is an art and science that involves market understanding along with legal analysis of any potential trademark roadblocks. So it’s a team effort that requires the Agency and trademark law professionals to work together toward the best decision. Don’t scrimp on the process and do your clients a favor by not allowing them to do so either.

Step 2: Trademark Registration

Once you pass the hurdle of clearance and have decided to pursue a brand trademark, federal trademark registration is your next step. Each state also has its own trademark registration process, but because virtually all business today involves interstate commerce, if not international commerce, I no longer spend much time focusing on state registrations. A federal trademark registration process can easily take a year from application to conclusion, and that assumes a smooth process with no inquiries from the US Trademark Office to delay it. So I advise submitting an application immediately upon decision point to get the process rolling. This gets the Trademark Office started on examining your application while you work on implementing the brand.

Step 3: Trademark “Maintenance”

Federal trademark registrations in the U.S. last for a period of 10 years, and can be continually renewed. (Fun fact about trademarks – really! – they’re the only kind of intellectual property that can last forever as long as you keep using them). Maintenance involves tracking the expiration dates of your trademarks, as well as all other deadines for filing routine maintenance documents and renewal applications. Have a calendaring system in place for tracking these dates, and make sure your client legal counsel do as well.

Step 4: Trademark Monitoring

Brand trademark protection requires vigilance. This means monitoring the market, your competitors, and the news for potential brand conflicts or confusion. It’s impossible to track every source of information about this, but tactics like using RSS (or whatever reading tool you like) to aggregate industry news, as well as setting search engine alerts for your brand marks, is helpful. More critically, if you do find a questionable use, acting on it quickly is important. Trademark law requires diligence and prompt action to stop trademark infringement, so work with counsel to address it immediately.

The more often an Agency works through the brand trademark protection, the easier the steps are to remember and understand. Also helpful is having a point person at the Agency to manage all brand clearance matters, whether internally or by managing outside counsel or a trademark search firm to help.