Study Relates Trademark Activity to Future Profitability

The Wall Street Journal published an article last month that referenced an interesting study regarding trademark registration activity and how it relates to future profitability. The article and study were composed from the viewpoint of trying to develop an edge in the stock market by using a company’s trademark filings to predict future profitability.

The study, which was released in March 2022, was conducted by a group of professors from the University of South Carolina, UCLA, National Taiwan University and National Tsing Hua University. The professors analyzed more than 300,000 trademark application filed with the USPTO from 1976 to 2014. The professors then developed a portfolio that took long positions on companies that ranked in the top third of most active trademark registrations and shorted the companies that ranked in the bottom third in trademark activity. The study concluded that the stock performance of the companies that were active with trademark registrations consistently outperformed those with little to no trademark activity. The study further found that high trademark activity predicts a higher return on equity and return on assets. You can find the study Here published by the UCLA Anderson Review.

So what does this mean? It means that there is verifiable data showing that companies that are active and serious about protecting their brand through USPTO trademark registration are more likely to profitable and successful than companies that choose not to invest in brand protection. Today, technology and attorneys like myself that offer reasonable flat fees have made federal trademark registration for small businesses and entrepreneurs as accessible as it has ever been.

Please feel free to Contact Me if you are ready to get started on legally protecting your brand.