Starting your own business is incredibly difficult in your country of origin, so imagine what it’s like setting one up in a country that is not your own. The business landscape is not the same everywhere and selling to a Chinese customer is completely different than selling something to a native of your own country. Then there is the marketing to take into consideration because what you might find funny in your own country might be incredibly rude in another.
You also need to take the security of your business very seriously and we are not talking about alarm systems here or security cameras. We are talking about your trademark registration and the steps that you need to take to protect it from anyone who tries to take it from you. Most business owners believe that their brand is incredibly important and imagine working years to build it up only to have someone come along and steal it right from under you. This is why you need to register your business immediately so that your brand and your trademark can be protected.
This is just one of the reasons why you need to register your trademark when operating in the Chinese marketplace and the following are some others.
- You establish legal ownership – If you want to own your brand, you need to register your business so that you can take advantage of the trademark rights that exist in that country. There is every likelihood that someone will, with malice or not, try to register your trademark or something very similar in-country or in another country. It may not be intentional on their part but you might find yourself having to go through the courts to get back what was rightfully yours.
- It helps to save you money – When it comes to registering your intellectual property, there are service providers out there that can do all of the hard work for you so that you don’t have to worry about such a thing. The fact that you have your trademark registered affords you protection in case there is some kind of infringement. The fact that your trademark is registered lets everyone know that you retain ownership and this will cut down the likelihood of anybody infringing on it in the first place.
- It adds value to your brand – Your brand is incredibly important and by registering your trademark, you’re actually adding immense value to your brand. If it is your hope to expand your business further down the line and you are looking for someone to invest in the business, they will want to know that the intellectual property is actually protected before they put any money into your enterprise.
Customers, wholesalers, investors and lending institutions need to be taking your business seriously from the very beginning and if you have not taken the time to protect your brand and identity then why would they want to do business with you as you would be a risk.
