It started as viral content. Today it is a registered trademark that generates revenue. The distance between those two states is one application.
What changes when you register
Before registration, a creator has attention. Attention is not an asset: it cannot be licensed with confidence, it cannot be sold, and it cannot be defended against someone selling merchandise with your catchphrase on it.
After registration, the creator has an exclusive right in specified classes, an entry in a public register that deters copying, standing to demand takedowns from marketplaces and platforms, and something that can be assigned or licensed for money.
What creators typically get wrong
Waiting until the revenue justifies the cost. By then the name is visible enough that someone else may have filed it, and Mexico grants rights to the first to file.
Filing in the wrong classes. A registration for entertainment services does not stop anyone selling clothing under the same name.
Ignoring the underlying copyright. If the content includes a character design, an illustration or music, those are separate rights that need their own treatment.
The practical sequence
Run an availability search, file the name in the classes where you sell or expect to sell, and register the creative material with INDAUTOR. We do the search and the opinion at no cost.