Trademark protection

A brand is often the most valuable thing a small business owns and the least protected. The name was chosen for how it sounds, the logo was designed in a hurry, and registration was left for later. Problems then arrive from both directions: a competitor starts using something similar and it is unclear whether it can be stopped, or a letter from the holder of an earlier mark demands a rebrand — signage, packaging, website and the reputation built under the name.

A registered trademark is a strong right, but it has to be well chosen, used and actively watched. Protecting a brand therefore goes beyond the filing itself, into how the mark is used, challenged and defended:

• the rules on distinctiveness, and on why descriptive or laudatory names are refused or hard to defend;
• the rules on likelihood of confusion, and on how signs, goods and the relevant public are compared;
• the rules on opposition — objecting to a conflicting application before it is registered, and answering an objection to your own;
• the rules on genuine use, and on losing a mark that has been left unused;
• the rules on coexistence agreements that let two similar marks live side by side;
• the rules on marks with a reputation, and on the wider protection they enjoy against free-riding;
• the rules on trade names and domain names that collide with a registered mark;
• the rules on tolerating a later mark, and on the point at which silence costs you the right to object;
• the rules on counterfeit goods and the customs measures that stop them at the border.

Our lawyers can support you with this.