Resources

For SMEs

Your product/service is your business. Your brand is your image. IP protects both. Don’t skIP it!

Are You an SME or an Entrepreneur?

What’s an SME/entrepreneur?

Regardless of the exact terminology or definitions, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs play a crucial role in the global economy.

The terms used to describe these businesses can vary, and might also include small and medium businesses, micro-businesses, and more. The attributes that qualify a business as being an SME also vary significantly across the globe, but the standards are typically based on revenue size and/or number of employees.

As you set up a business, you may first focus on finance (venture capital and other sources of funding, taxation, accounting, etc.) and/or the practical resources you may need (housing, human resources, etc.).

But what about intellectual property (IP) rights? Do you know why they matter to your business? Do you know why they should be tackled at the early stages?

IP protection is often overlooked during the early stages of small business creation and growth. But it shouldn’t be.

Any successful business needs a window to the outside world to make its products or services known, to promote them, and ultimately to sell them. Think of your brand as your window to this outside world—it’s your image. For your business to thrive and grow, you’ll want to protect that image.

There are various types of IP that comprise a brand—with trademarks being the focus here. A trademark is a specific aspect of your brand. It’s a word, phrase, acronym, graphical element, logo—and in some cases even a color (or combination of colors), sound, smell, shape, movement, or other type of sign or symbol—that customers learn to associate with your products and services. Over time, when your customers see your trademark, they learn to associate aspects of your products and services with it, including quality and reputation. It’s also the legal right to your brand.

Trademarks help your customers distinguish your products and services from your competitors.
Trademarks help you to build a customer base and customer loyalty.
Trademarks ensure that competitors don’t steal, damage, or unfairly profit from your brand.

Trademarks can generate revenue for your business in many ways, including through licensing agreements. With all the time, money, and energy you spend developing your brand, you should think about protecting it through trademark registration. Here’s why:

Registration strengthens your reputation in the market by showing care and business readiness, and that you are thinking long-term and strategically for your brand.
Registration puts competitors and the consumer marketplace on notice of your brand rights and warns them they cannot copy or steal it.
Registration allows you to keep competitors from trading on your name for your products or services (or those that are confusingly similar).
Registration prevents others from applying to register the same or a confusingly similar mark, possibly avoiding costly litigation or negotiations to re-acquire your rights.
Registration allows you to fight counterfeits that are trading under your brand name as well as unauthorized product sales in online marketplaces.
Registration gives you the presumption that you are the owner of your trademark when there is a dispute, and it’s up to the other party to challenge the validity of your rights.

Trademark registrations are an important consideration during the valuation of a company and its assets.
Failure to register may cause investor concern.
Monetizing your trademark through licensing, collaborative ventures, asset sales, or other business deals usually requires registration to ensure clear title and ownership to your trademark.
Registration can help your business to expand to potential new goods and services as your business grows.

colorful ropes tied together on white background

Need Help With Trademark Protection?

The Pro Bono Clearinghouse can help. It’s free of charge. If you qualify, you’ll be put in contact with an IP professional who can assist with your trademark issues.

The Clearinghouse serves low-income individuals, small- to medium-enterprises, and not-for-profit, and nonprofit or charitable organizations with low operating budgets that might not otherwise have affordable access to legal assistance.

Pro Bono Resources

Please note that any content repurposed from our Fact Sheets must include the following copyright notice: © International Trademark Association (INTA). Reprinted with kind permission.

Learn the Language

Trademark Symbols

Counterfeiting (Intended for a non-legal audience)

Access the Interactive Report

Download the PDF

Other Helpful Resources

From Our Committees

An Entrepreneur’s Journey to Protect IP: KITCHENRAMA

Published: October 31, 2022

One entrepreneur shares how seeking a trademark served to future-proof his business and protect his customers—and offers IP advice for other SMEs.

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Law & Practice

An Entrepreneur’s Journey to Protect IP: Tealosophy

Selena Altro Selena Altro Paperman Montreal, Canada Public Information Committee

Published: April 26, 2022

For small business owners, trademarks are often an essential element that enables them to grow their business. Just ask Argentinian tea maker Ines Berton (Tealosophy), who leveraged her marks to stay afloat and continue to expand her brand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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From Our Committees

IP Funding Programs for SMEs

Amy Tindell Holland & Hart LLP Boulder, Colorado, USA Public Information Committee

Published: February 1, 2022

SMEs play a crucial role in the world economy, but obtaining financing is a key challenge to growing their businesses. Europe and China represent examples of financing programs to support SMEs in their efforts to create and maintain valuable IP rights.

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Education

SME FAQs

INTA’s Public Information Committee

Published: January 28, 2022

Get answers to the most common IP questions asked by entrepreneurs and small- and medium-sized enterprises.

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Law & Practice

An Entrepreneur’s Journey to Protect IP: LEXI Graphics System for...

Kenneth D. Suzan Barnes & Thornburg LLP Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Public Information Committee—Bloggers Subcommittee

Published: December 17, 2021

Through an innovative use of accessible visuals, the LEXI graphics system opened up new audiences and “transformed the world of Paralympic sport." In this case study, company founder and British Paralympian swimming champion Giles Long explains how he used three three dis...

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Law & Practice

For SMEs, Distinctiveness Is Crucial for Brand Identity and Reputation

Emily Haas Michael Best & Friedrich LLP Raleigh, North Carolina, USA Public Information Committee—Bloggers Subcommittee

Published: December 15, 2021

Choosing a name may be one of an entrepreneur’s most important decisions when starting a business and building consumer trust. The key is to watch out for hidden pitfalls in selecting and registering a trademark.

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Brand & New Episode

TOMS Shoes: Standing for Tomorrow, the Case Study of a Trailblazing...

Published: November 5, 2019

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Brand & New Episode

Tech Startups and IP: Generation Y Entrepreneur Knits Sustainable...

Published: July 20, 2021

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Law & Practice

An Entrepreneur’s Journey to Protect IP: Piroshky Piroshky

Kenneth D. Suzan Barnes & Thornburg LLP Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Public Information Committee

Published: April 23, 2021

The proactive measures taken by this successful small business to secure trademarks for its brand in the U.S. serve as a reminder to other SMEs about the value of IP protection.

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INTA Insights

Get digestible insights about SMEs and IP protection from our members around the world.

SEE ALL INTA INSIGHTS