On-line searching makes it practical to check all new brand names, even, for example, in a catalog with hundreds of items. In making or having made a register search, it is important that the person specifying the search understand the meaning of any of the trademarks in English and in foreign languages, and understand the phonetic variations and mean-alike terms that may make the mark similar under the trademark test of similar sound, meaning or appearance. For example, Electric Auto describes a battery-powered car, but Electra only suggests a characteristic of the car. Every company today should be attempting to build the value of the company in the marketplace. This value may be utilized to raise capital by equity investment or borrowing, utilize equity in the company to purchase other companies or to make the company a more attractive merger or buy-out candidate.
Intellectual property is an important factor in the total valuation of a company.
When it comes to increasing the value of the com-pany's intellectual capital in trademarks, nothing but a federal registration will suffice. If you have selected a protectable mark and made the necessary searches, you will have a high degree of confidence that the mark will eventually be registered. When proper trademark procedure is made routine, it does not have to be excessively time-consuming or inordinately expensive and, unlike some legal procedures, the rewards almost always exceed the costs.