Should I trademark my logo?

Q. Should I trademark my store's name and logo? How do I go about registering a trademark?

A. Simply using your name and logo as symbols of your store's distinctive products and services gives you trademark rights in the geographic area in which you operate, as long as you are the first person in your area to use them.

You may place the "TM" symbol on the logo to alert others to your claims on its use. You also have the right to sue others who imitate your name or logo.

If you want to protect your rights to the trademark in a broader area, you must register it. Registration gives notice to other businesses of your trademark and proves your use of the trademark, or your intent to use it, as of the date you apply.

If your mark is used only within Michigan, it should be registered at the state level. If you use or intend to use it in other states or countries, you should register it at the federal level. Only federally registered trademarks may use the ® symbol.

An application to register a trademark typically requires information about the trademark owner, a drawing of the trademark, identification of the goods or services on which the trademark is used and evidence of use (such as a photo of your storefront with the logo displayed).

The filing fee is $50 for the state and $325 for the federal application. The registration process typically takes about one year. Trademarks are in effect for 10 years and can be renewed indefinitely.

Attorney Bill Kolakowski, of law firm Dykema Gossett in Bloomfield Hills, recommends conducting a search to make sure that similar trademarks are not already in use before attempting to register your own. Applying to register your trademark could alert other businesses with similar names or logos and result in a lawsuit over possible trademark infringement.

A full search of both registered and unregistered trademarks by a professional search firm and an attorney's opinion on eligibility for registration and potential for infringement may cost about $1,000. You can also search nationally registered trademarks on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website listed below and at the Great Lakes Patent and Trademark Center at the Detroit Public Library.

For more information about trademarks, see the Michigan Department of Consumer and Industry Services website at www.cis.state.mi.us/bcs/corp/tmsmform.htm and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website at www.uspto.gov.