In the increasingly crowded global marketplace, business leaders must make their companies stand out from the crowd. After all, even established brands face fierce competition from startup ventures and online outfits. Getting your company’s marketing right is a step in the right direction.
Your business’s marketing includes non-functional elements that give your product or service its overall look and feel. These elements may be decorations, packaging, colors or even the layout of your stores. To keep your competitors from capitalizing on your design, it is important to secure trade dress protection.
Trademark protection for non-functional trade dress
Provided your trade dress is non-functional, meaning it is not necessary for your product or service, you can probably pursue a trademark for it. After obtaining a trademark, you can take legal action against any venture that attempts to misappropriate your trade dress. Doing so, of course, ensures your customers do not confuse your product or service with what your competitors offer.
Your customer retention strategy
According to reporting from Business News Daily, garnering customer loyalty is the key both to retaining existing customers and attracting new ones. Still, American consumers tend to be creatures of habit. After you develop your company’s trade dress, part of your retention strategy must be protecting it.
If you suspect a competitor is using the same or similar trade dress to siphon off your customers, your trademark protection gives you the upper hand. Ultimately, though, to receive the full benefit of your trade dress, it is critical to push back at the first sign of misappropriation by a competitor or anyone else.