The following is an edited transcript of my video 3 Things to Do When Rebranding
We frequently work with businesses that are in the process of rebranding. Rebranding usually comes about one of two ways:
Voluntarily, when a company decides that they want a refresh, they want a new brand, they’re pivoting, or they’ve decided that their old name wasn’t resonating and they’ve decided to rebrand. The other type of rebranding comes by necessity due to a trademark dispute.
Either way, there are three core tips to think about when rebranding:
- Start early. Time can be your friend in this circumstance, or it can be your enemy, and you want it to be your friend. Because the trademark process takes so long, it’s important and valuable to begin the steps in rebranding early, and the critical first steps are to search the new name or the preferred new name before doing anything else.
- Conduct a clearance search to make sure that the new name is clear, unlikely to cause any problems, and likely to be protected by trademark registration. That process usually takes a couple of weeks. It can be expedited when necessary, but you want to give yourself time.
- File the trademark application. The USPTO currently takes about 10 months to even open and review your application. The earlier you get a jumpstart on that application process, the farther along you’re going to be in the process when you flip the switch and use the brand. Ideally, if you can get your application reviewed and on track for approval before you publicly launch and release the name, that’s the best case scenario.
