On protecting what you’re building and trademarking your brand

A while back, I was opening my journal to collect words, vibes, and feelings from client branding questionnaires, I happened to open to a page that held me both warmly and painfully.

“Let it be this, or something better.”

You see, my business used to be named The Untamed Creative. When it came to me, I fell in love.It felt as true for my business as it did for me personally. I was head over heels with joy and direction and alignment and couldn’t wait to build a brand around this name.

But what I neglected to do ended up being more impactful than what I chose to do.

I knew I wanted to try to protect this name. I felt that it was mine and I wanted others to recognize that too. So I considered submitting trademark paperwork. But I was on a budget and many exciting client projects were calling my heart and attention, so I let it fall to the wayside.

As time went on, The Untamed Creative felt more and more true. I created content and branded slogans around the name. Some of my clients and I came up with fun team names to celebrate our partnership (Team Untamed Astronaut will always have my heart.)

Cut to Spring of 2023 when I finally decided it was time to give my own business organization the attention it deserved and to file a trademark application. To my horror (I stand by the drama), another applicant had already submitted an application for “Untamed Creative.”

To make matters worse, they were also a brand and web studio. Also in Wyoming. (I’m now in Montana though, in case that matters to you. 🙃)

They had formed their business and filed their paperwork after I had so I technically had first use rights, but my legal team advised that it wouldn’t be financially worth it to try to fight it. I best just come up with another brand name that I loved just as much or more.

I wondered how that was even possible.

I knew now was not the time to go it alone so I assembled my dream team of creatives, wanting to move quickly and intentionally towards my truest north. Hoping I would find it along the way. & thankfully, in trusting the process I unearthed something even more true than my previous brand name had ever felt.

My most trusted poet and brand messaging specialist, Chelsea of Lady Folk, and I got to work in collecting words and feelings that evoked the experience I wanted to create in my new brand. I wanted to go to a deeper level, to go beyond custom brand and web design and into an intimate creative collaboration of unearthing and shaping my client’s stories into meaningful brand experiences. To meet my people in the beautifully raw and messy space that is entrepreneurship and one’s creative journey.

We tried on so many concepts and honestly I don’t even fully remember how and when it came my way. But the second I felt it, I knew it was mine, moreso than my previous business name had ever been.

Unbridled Form.

Not only did it feel that it had always been there, but it was also not in use for any other business or trademark application we could find.

Ready to run with it, a deeper brand story was formed…

Inspired by the untamable frontier spirit of the wild horses and artists of the West, Unbridled Form exists to blend strategy, story, and style in memorable and artistic brand and website design. To preserve functional art and inspire connection. To root brands in intention and champion their wildest ambitions.

This time around, I filed my trademark application as soon as my new website was live and I could prove that the brand name was actively in use in the categories for which I filed. I was not f***ing around this time. I wanted to protect what I was building from my heart and soul.

Today, I am elated and so damn proud to share that Unbridled Form is officially a registered trademark. Knowing that what I’m building is not only deeply aligned but also protected gives me so much peace. What makes it even more special to me is that multiple people have reached out this past year to let me know that my journey inspired them to pursue their own trademarks—and now, they own their marks too.

If you’re facing your own renaming or evolving, I hope you know you don’t have to go it alone. Find your trusted people and lean on them while trusting your vision. Allow yourself the compassion to let it be this or something better and create the space to honor and protect what you are building. Because your story and that undeniable feeling of ownership and alignment… I promise, it’s worth it.

Rooting for you.