Trademarking 101 For Course Creators
The proliferation of online training courses since the beginning of Covid restrictions is undeniable and impressive. With lockdowns eliminating in-person training and education, course creators and consumers are seizing the opportunity to create and attend an unprecedented number of online programs.
It appears that this trend is continuing even after the relaxation of mandates.
Protect Your Intellectual Property
You invest time, energy, and resources creating a quality online course. You want to protect that work to preserve your reputation and earning power.
Here are a few first steps you can take towards accomplishing this goal.
1. Website Terms of Service
Craft a clear statement regarding what you allow.
2. Sales Page Terms of Use
Again, draft a clear statement indicating the privileges of purchasing your product.
3. Establish Copyright
Copyright is a best practice and one of the least costly, most accessible ways to protect your images, text, and original work.
4. Employ Watermarks
Embedding a ghost image, or watermark, into videos, images, and other content helps prevent theft and identifies you as the owner.
Taking these initial steps to establish ownership and protect your hard work can be crucial to the success of your online course.
But, these are just the beginning.
There are also online courses listing registration under the Companies Act, 2013 as private limited companies. The Reserve Unique Name (R.U.N.) web service establishes if the name infringes on any existing company names.
However, while it may find your name unique and free to use, RUN certification provides no trademark protection. You might use that name for your domain, but the USTPO may decide otherwise.
Trademark Your Online Course Name
While copyright protects your work, it does not prevent someone from fraudulently using your name or logo.
Only a registered trademark will protect your course name and brand identity completely.
Merely creating your course and naming it offers common-law trademark status. However, fighting interlopers in court is much more difficult, and ownership is more challenging to prove than a registered trademark.
What to Register
Standard, generic words and phrases are not eligible for a trademark. For potential customers to easily find your course, you want a unique name, and so does the USTPO. You will need to perform an in-depth name search to determine if your name is already in use.
The name must not be in use and cannot cause confusion with similar-sounding trademarks. The examiner handling your application will make this determination. If the examiner sees a conflict with your name choice, you will receive an Office Action letter.
Office Actions
It can be very time-consuming to respond to Office Actions.
Typically, you can expect to receive at least one Office Action as your application proceeds.
Office Actions are letters outlining issues and challenges with your registration application. You will be responsible for responding within a specific time; failing to do so will cancel your application, forcing you to begin the process anew.
Where Should You Use Your Trademark?
Educational and training courses often contain numerous pages and curricula; you want to have your name and trademark visible on every piece. Individual course components may become separated. Indicating your ownership of all materials is critical.
It may be advantageous to trademark your slogans, taglines, and any additional courses. Some examples you might want to review for trademark use in online courses are:
· Udemy
· Alison
These prevalent platforms offer various courses in numerous disciplines and interests. They also jealously guard and protect their brand and financial interests with trademarks and other certifications.
The more certifications and trademarks you have for your online course and related products, the better your chances of successfully fighting piracy in a courtroom.
How to Register Your Trademark
Once you complete your name search and fill out the application completely, you may present your application to the Trademark Office and wait. It can take months or even years for your application to reach final approval.
And, if you are filing yourself without a trademark attorney, your likelihood of success is small.
Managing the bureaucratic maze and comprehending the jargon is a real challenge for the uninitiated. It takes years to become comfortable with the ins and outs of the trademark approval process.
The amount of time you spend on the name search alone is significant. And that is just a tiny part at the beginning. Responding to Office Actions effectively and promptly is often beyond the capabilities of most people.
You will likely require a trademark attorney at some point in the process costing you hundreds of dollars per hour.
If this doesn’t sound like your idea of fun, you are in a large cohort.
Achieve Trademark Success
Registering your trademark is a challenge and can easily overwhelm most people. At Trademark Factory®, we understand how daunting this is and have the ideal solution for everyone seeking trademark registration.
File your application confidently, with our all-inclusive 100% money-back guarantee of successful trademark registration.
We will do everything.
· Name Search
· File Your Registration
· Handle All USTPO Communications
Including Office Action Responses
· Inform You of Application Status & Progress
· Guarantee Your Trademark Registration
100% Cash-Back Should We Be Unsuccessful
Conclusion
Your time and energy are your most valuable commodity. Use your talent and time building your brand and training course, not doing bureaucratic paperwork and addressing legal concerns; Leave all that for the experts.
You will spend substantial funds pursuing trademark registration by yourself. Spend some of those funds to hire expert legal help and a staff of committed specialists at Trademark Factory®. Let us aid you in achieving your goals and launching your successful brand.
Contact us today to learn more about how you can save time and money while building a solid online course brand.