When starting a company, business owners attempt to cut costs and pump whatever money they have into their product or service first. This actually seems like the right business approach. But in many instances, it is not. One of the costs that entrepreneurs try to keep low is legal. However, long term this can be detrimental to a company.

If an entrepreneur fails to obtain proper trademarks for their brand at the onset of their journey, there is a chance that they have just availed themselves to future problems. Some of these problems can be easily resolved meanwhile others can destroy their company.

Let’s start off with the issues that can be easily resolved. If a person doesn’t file for their trademark at the onset of opening their business, it will be difficult to fight off copycats on social media and Amazon, as well as, bring lawsuits in federal court. Also, the entrepreneur being unaware if their brand name and/or logo are strong marks and whether someone else is already using their brand name and/or logo within the same or similar industry can pose other issues. These unknowns can lead to the “big” problems.

At the launch of a business, in order to sell a good or service, the business owner needs to market their brand. Marketing is probably the biggest or one of the biggest expenses that a company endures. If a business owner invests into marketing before obtaining trademarks, they might be throwing money out the window. If a business owner decides to trademark their brand and/or logo months or even worse, years after launching their brand and is notified that someone else already owns the same or similar trademark within the same industry and/or has prior trademark rights, then a real concern arises. If this is the case, then the time, effort and money that the business owner has invested into growing their brand will likely become wasteful since they will likely need to rebrand or continue to grow under the radar and take a chance of being sued for trademark infringement.

Trademark infringement cases are extremely costly and the damages that courts appoint are very high. For example, in 2022 an arbitrator awarded Monster Energy (energy drink) $175 million in damages and a 5% royalty on future sales due to trademark infringement against Orange Bang. In January of 2026, Aroma360 (their trademark “Hotel Collection”) settled a dispute against Scentiment (their trademark “Bring The Hotel Home”) for trademark infringement, with Scentiment surrendering to the validity of Aroma360’s mark. The actual settlement details are unknown for the foregoing case, as they usually are for most cases. Most damages in trademark infringement cases include paying damages to the plaintiff for loss of profits or licensing fees, as well as, prohibiting future sales of infringing products or services.

In conclusion, protecting your intellectual property is extremely important in order to avoid potential pitfalls and have a successful business.