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Charities and Trademarks – Names and Trademarks

Whether a charity is a household name or an innovative start-up, like any ordinary business, you’ll need to think about your brand.

If the charity is about to launch, it is worth doing a trademark search. When starting new businesses, there is so much to do and think about that name clearance is sometimes overlooked. As a result, a few losers receive a ‘cease and desist’ letter requiring them to stop using their name. So they have to start over with a completely new identity, a new website, new business cards, new marketing materials, etc.

Name clearance involves a trademark search to verify whether identical or similar and conflicting existing trademarks have already been registered. Charities may also want to look for similar brands with associations that are contrary to the objectives of the charity. For example, if there is an existing registry with a similar name from a tobacco company, then the charity may want to reconsider whether to use the name for its cancer hospice.

Given the potential risks, it makes sense to do a brand search before committing to a new name. Charities cannot afford costly legal proceedings or rebranding if trademark law is bypassed. Making sure they take steps to protect the brand at an early stage is a smart move for long-term brand safety and success. Therefore, the key for any charity is to manage brand protection at an early stage to avoid costly outlays later.

What is recordable? Taking a shortcut in marketing by adopting a descriptive name carries the risk that the name is not trademarked. Only distinctive brand names can be registered trademarks. Therefore, when selecting names, a balance must be found between those that indicate what the charity does and those that are unique.

One of the main reasons that organizations switch to using acronyms like WWF instead of the full name, World Wildlife Fund, is to be able to record what would otherwise be too descriptive of a name. However, as trademark registries become increasingly saturated, many acronyms will be adopted and more difficult solutions may need to be found to get around the overly descriptive charity name problem.

Charities that start with a distinctive name will have the uniqueness that is the hallmark of a memorable brand. It is good practice to register the name as a trademark early in the life of the charity, as at that stage it is much easier to make adjustments to the name if necessary before the charity is firmly established with a particular identity. .

Territorial nature of the brands. Trademarks are protected in the area in which the charity registers its trademark. Initially, resources may not extend beyond a local country trademark, but in due course, as the charity becomes established, registrations in other countries in which it is active should be allowed.

Those charities with strong partnerships and operations in less economically developed countries – where trust in the brand will be particularly strong – will find it more expensive to protect their rights because they may not be part of the Madrid system, making it very cost-effective to file for protection in a number of countries around the world under a single application based on a national application.

brands matter Although a charity operates to fill a social need rather than to generate profit for its owners, brand protection is just as important for nonprofit organizations. The brand will communicate the charity’s message, promote its services in the marketplace and, of course, help raise funds. Brands are the media by excellence to protect brands, since there is no copyright in a mere name.

As people identify the brand with the charity’s cause, the goodwill generated becomes a valuable way of promoting the cause. Charitable brands are particularly vulnerable to unscrupulous third parties who may try to take advantage of the brand’s social purpose, its special meaning and credibility, and the public’s trust in it. Therefore, registering a trademark is the most cost-effective protection for enforcing the rights of the charity.

While names may not be the top priority for startups, their importance to organizations is obvious given the fierce disputes that sometimes rage over brand names. For example, for years there were legal battles between the World Wide Fund for Nature and the World Wrestling Federation over the WWF brand. The two organizations reached an agreement in 1992, and yet, ten years later, the Fund sued for breach of that agreement. The two then had a dispute over domain names, specifically over WWF.com, and spent most of the 1990s opposing each other’s trademark applications at different national intellectual property offices around the world.

Ultimately, the long-term payoff for a charity that takes a proactive approach at an early stage is the establishment of a strong framework to protect and enhance its charitable goals.