The Legal Considerations of Rebranding
The Legal Considerations of Rebranding
Are you considering rebranding your business name or product in 2024?
Rebranding can be a costly endeavor, and if not done correctly, it can have serious consequences for your business.Â
If you are contemplating a rebranding exercise, it is important to carefully consider all aspects and minimize any potential risks of infringement, litigation, or other issues that could negatively impact your business under the new brand.
Rebranding involves a significant investment of time and resources to develop a new look and feel for your business. It is essential to consider not only how you want your brand to be perceived by customers, but also how it may be viewed by your competitors.
Unfortunately, many businesses overlook this crucial aspect and fail to anticipate objections or challenges from their competitors. These competitors may take legal action or otherwise hinder your business activities under the new brand.
It is important to carefully consider the potential impact of your rebranding on consumers before moving forward.
Creating a logo and packaging that closely resembles that of a third party can cause confusion and send unintended messages to the public. This could result in consumers associating your brand with a completely different company, potentially giving more attention to the third party rather than your own brand.
Essentially, you would be investing in a brand that inadvertently benefits a competitor, which is a waste of money.
Added to these costs are graphic artist fees, costs for the makeover of your business premises and merchandise to match the new branding. These costs can quickly add up and become a significant expense.
Confusingly Similar
If you do not consider the aspect of how your consumers and competitors view your new brand, there is a potential risk of infringing third party rights.
For instance, a third party, potentially a competitor, may raise concerns about your new branding. They may even send you a demand letter, requesting that you stop using your new logo or any elements of your rebranding on the basis that it infringes their existing or prior rights.
So what steps can you take to prevent this situation.
Some important steps in this process include conducting thorough searches such as business name, company name, trademark, domain name, and market investigations. This can be done in the initial stages.
These searches help determine if your desired mark or brand is available for use and if there are any potential issues that may arise in the future.
In the next article we will delve further into these searches. But ultimately, the point of this article is – if you’re considering rebranding, conduct legal clearance on the proposed brand. You can even conduct searches of not one but various versions of the proposed brand to ensure you have some form of legal clearance.
By taking these precautions, you can potentially save yourself from potential complications down the road and of course, save time and money.
For any queries on this article, please email [email protected]
