Let’s explore the world of bloggers. Blogs[1], bloggers and blogging are not new terms in our vocabulary any more. Maybe they were 10 years ago, but in the internet era where blogging provides information on almost every field, it has become a well-known term in the 21st century.
What bloggers do?
Simply put, blogs provide information on various topics of interest to the general public. These can be on technology, business strategies, fashion, food, legal developments or any other field of interest. Blogging generally relies on consumers to keep reflecting interest in the information provided by them. So, the main purpose of a blog is to connect you to the relevant audience. A blog also allows you to showcase your authority and build a brand.
When you use your niche knowledge for creating informative and engaging posts, it builds trust with your audience. Great blogging makes your business look more credible, which is especially important if your brand is still young and fairly unknown. It ensures presence and authority at the same time. It also reflects your vast knowledge of the field by acting as a mirror of your skills.
Bloggers and Intellectual Property?
Where’s the connection? Why associate blogging with IP? If it was the early 90s, where blogging served a purpose of open source diaries or were mainly personal blogs where the blogger had no intention to create a brand and gain any business or profits out of it, there would have been no requirement of procuring legal rights for the blog. In today’s age, millennials have created a market out of blogging, it is akin to running a proper business. It brings in the dollars and therefore, it requires legal intervention in the form of intellectual property laws.
A question asked frequently: “Should you trademark your blog name?”
Millions of blogs exist across the internet. Some have grown to gigantic magnitudes, while others remain determinedly in a particular niche. Whatever the case, bloggers face legal issues similar to that of their print publication counterparts. That is, they need to protect their intellectual property.
Should you trademark your blog name? That’s a question bloggers ask far more frequently now than they did even five years ago. The answer, as in most issues regarding trademarks, is that it depends. Different bloggers have different needs, and based on those needs one can ascertain whether they require trademark protection.
So, what is a trademark? A trademark will protect your brand from use by others in your specific business area. For example, a trademark will protect your logo in the blog community from use by another blogger. If someone else online began to use your logo to sell goods online, you, as the trademark holder, would be able to legally stop them. You can trademark a phrase, a specific logo, or even a sound.
Whether you need a trademark? If you spend a lot of time creating unique, original, and valuable information to share with readers on your blog and have a unique brand name. Then yes, you should definitely aim at applying for trademark protection. However, you still need to consider these factors before you can answer that question positively:
- You share unique, original information on your blog,
- You use your blog to conduct business and communicate via messages from your blog for business purposes,
- You have a large online traffic of readers coming for your blog’s new and unique content,
- You have come across similar looking brands/blogs on the internet or as physical stores.
If these factors suit your blog and you have a one of a kind blog, then yes, you should aim at getting a trademark protection.
Trademarking your blog name can also help you build brand recognition and strengthen your brand’s reputation. You will build credibility among your followers and prospects, and help convince others (especially your competitors) that your content is original and valuable, and shouldn’t be copied or used without your permission.
For more information on the trademark registration process, please read
‘How to obtain a trademark registration
in India’?
[1] Blog -A blog (shortening of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website displaying information in the reverse chronological order, with the latest posts appearing first. It is a platform where a writer or even a group of writers share their views on an individual subject.