Sometimes this works out okay. Often times, it works out okay. However, it takes only one major infringer with superior assets to water down one's brand and goodwill and significantly diminish or destroy one's livelihood. For instance, what if you have developed a reputation for good service as a plumber? You charge reasonable rates, don't take advantage of people when they call frantic when their kitchen pipes burst, and always complete your jobs in a timely manner. Now imagine that another outfit starts competing with you, using a similar name and taking your customers, using the years of good service and customer care that you built. With a federal trademark, showing you with the first registration of your name (and precluding the use by anyone of anything confusingly similar), the matter is over before it really begins. If you do not possess such protection, you must rely on state common law protections, which means you are paying for your own lawyer (if federally registered, you can get attorney fees as part of any settlement or resolution), and it is entirely possible that you simply may not win.

Securing your business brand forever is an inexpensive process and is one of the smartest things any entrepreneur can do. If brand did not matter, then Wal-Mart, Microsoft and Panera Bread would not bother registering their company names with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). But guess what? They do, because it does.

The USPTO filing fees are reasonable, and a good trademark attorney can do a common law, federal and state search to ensure that your trade name is registerable.

When you decide whether or not it is worth a few minutes of time and a small amount of money to protect your brand, think of the plumber. The protection is infinite as long as you use the name, and the deterrence effects are greater because any infringer will be responsible for the attorney fees and costs you expend in defending your mark. In today's information economy, common law protections are simply not enough. If you have not yet made the decision to register, another day of delay may only help your competition.