When you think about trademarks, it can be one of many things. It can be an element of design, a symbol, or any other signature attribute that will allow you to identify a particular service or product as being your own. As a result, you may apply trademarks to brand names, signs, logos, taglines, designs, or any other visual items that are unique to your business.

That being said, there is still an issue that continuously comes up when trademarked elements are involved: when you have to translate it into a different language, it can become fairly complex – and if it is not done right, it can compromise the success of your entire business.

If used correctly, however, it can be very efficient as a tool to increase your sales. It can open the gates to different audiences – ones that could not buy your product simply because they hit a language barrier. But by using the best online translation services, these barriers could be easily taken down – therefore helping your brand take a step forward.

Name Identity and Its Importance in Trademark

To show exactly how essential a trademark is in regard to the identity and recognition of a company, here are some examples. You will see exactly how flexible these trademarks are – but even if you are not a fan or a client of that particular company, you are bound to be familiar with their trademark:

• Business name: IBM or UBS
• Fictional character: Tony the Tiger, or Jack in the Box’s ‘Jack’
• Colors: Tiffany Blue or Barbie Pink
• Slogans or words in certain fonts: Little Debbie or Pop Tarts
• Slogans: Nike’s ‘Just do it’
• The shape of products: the glass Coca Cola bottle or Toblerone Bar
• Sounds: The ‘dun dun’ sound you hear in Law and Order TV series

When you see or hear these trademarks, you know precisely which company they are talking about. This is why it has to be carefully translated or adapted to that its meaning is not lost along the way.

Going for a Global Trademark

As you might have already figured out for yourself, if you establish a trademark for your company in your country of origin, this does not automatically mean that this trademark remains valid in other countries as well. In fact, in other countries, it might have a completely different meaning.

That being said, if you decide to expand your business on an international scale, you may have to establish your trademark in every country that you do business in. Ultimately, you may also use the Madrid system so that you can create a trademark in more countries – all while using only one application process.

The Trademark Translation

Indeed, creating a trademark in your own country is a very important matter if you are planning to start a business. However, if you plan to expand your business internationally, to clients from another country, you will want your business to make sense. This has to be done in a way that they retain their original definition.

In some cases, this isn’t going to be easy – particularly when the different cultures use different character sets. For example, there are no Chinese symbols that translate into either “coca” or “cola” and if you attempted transliteration, you would end up with something along the lines of “bite the wax tadpole.” After struggling on how to translate the name, they went for the Mandarin “ke kou ke le,” which translated into “permission for your mouth to rejoice.”

There were also instances when characters, phrases, or even colors would simply have no meaning – regardless of what you do. In these situations, you may have to come up with something new so that you may be successful in the new market. This is exactly why you ought to work with a professional trademark translator, who can identify these kinds of problems – giving you the advice that you need in order to proceed and solve the problem.

Furthermore, when the time to file your trademarks comes, you may opt for translation professionals that also have some experience when it comes to the law of intellectual property. They may offer you help in the translation of any kind of document needed for brand protection in other countries.

Final Thoughts

When you trademark your brand to other countries as well, you are helping it become recognized by potential customers from that area as well. You are also making sure of the fact that your intellectual property will not be taken by other brands and be used for their own purposes. Just remember that this may be a fairly complicated task and, unless you work with professional translators, you might be doing your brand more harm than good.