You’ve Gotten Big on TikTok — Now What?

Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe

Creating and protecting your brand identity

Well, you did it. After putting in the work and obtaining millions of views and thousands of followers, you have managed to successfully launch yourself into the world of social media influencers. And with a big platform oftentimes comes a big paycheck. Companies have started reaching out and asking to work with you, and in between the flurry of contracts you need to deal with and keeping up with your platform, it is likely that you may feel a bit overwhelmed. After all, who knew that celebrities need to deal with so many legal issues?

The road to social media influencer status is a steep climb with many ways to build a following for yourself, yet the key to success as an influencer is one that is rarely discussed. Everyone wants to talk about how to become an influencer, yet nobody talks about how to stay an influencer and generate revenue from it. An important aspect of making yourself marketable is to create and protect your personal brand. This might sound odd, but most of the well-known influencers today do this — the Kardashians come to mind.

Securing trademark protection is an important way for influencers to protect their image and brand — not only does it encourage influencers to maintain quality and consistency in their work, but it prevents competitors from freeriding off an influencer’s success and goodwill. As a result, more influencers today are securing trademark protection for their brand than ever before.

Wait—what is a trademark?

A trademark is any word, name, symbol, or sound used by a person or business to differentiate their goods or services from those sold or marketed by others. Classic examples include Nike’s swoosh, Coca-Cola’s script-written name, or MGM’s lion. A strong trademark will be associated with an influencer’s online presence, and an influencer’s followers will come to associate that certain mark with the influencer, their work, and their reputation.

Although one might traditionally associate a trademark with a tangible product or service, trademarks can be useful branding tools for social media influencers, like protecting the influencer’s personal name, signature, or stage name; a catch-phrase the influencer uses regularly in its content; or even particular colors in limited circumstances.

How does a trademark protect my brand?

As you establish yourself as an influencer and build your following, your personal brand starts gaining consumer recognition and increases in value, which makes your brand more and more profitable. With a registered mark, you can license your brand out to businesses for higher royalty rates, or charge higher rates for services you provide to them. This is particularly important if you are collaborating with a business or promoting one of their products on your page.

Some examples of influential people who have sought trademark protection in their names include Kylie Jenner, who has her name registered for “Retail store services featuring gifts, general consumer merchandise, apparel, apparel accessories;” Jackie Chan has his name registered for various forms of apparel; and John Cena’s name is registered for beverage ware. These trademarks protect the owners’ associated brands and enable them to profit from any potential business ventures.

Additionally, as you become more popular, people might start infringing on your brand in hopes of generating their own profits — they may even file your trademark in their own name if you haven’t already done so. This could adversely impact your revenue stream, and it could result in you seeking costly legal assistance to address the problem. Or, if they attempt to promote a product that does not fit within your brand image, it can cause customer confusion and tarnish or dilute the value of your brand. A company might even work with an infringer exploiting your brand because they charge lower rates. Registering your mark early thus discourages people from infringing on your brand, will protect your brand’s overall value, and will give you exclusive control over your brand so you can maintain your brand’s integrity and artistic vision.

When should I start the trademark application process?

Generally, as early as possible. You might think you need to wait until you reach a “big” following, but there is no need to wait! Today, in the best case scenario, the whole process will likely take a full year to play out before your application registers. In the meantime, your social media presence might continue to grow exponentially, so several opportunities might come your way even before your trademark registration issues.

There are specific requirements that must be met for a trademark to register, as the point of a trademark is to prevent customer confusion about the origin of a good or service. Many trademarks are rejected by the USPTO, so although a trademark owner can file their mark on their own, it is generally best to consult a trademark attorney to ensure your application will ultimately successfully mature into a registration.

For more information on this article and this topic, contact Damaris Flores.