One key moment for every brand-building process

Trademark search is one of the most important parts of the brand-building process, although sometimes it is underestimated.

Most people think about brand building only as a marketing process where different marketing specialists develop a new brand name based on a variety of marketing requirements. 

That’s true up to a point but it’s not the whole picture. Why?

Well, the brief answer is that a good brand name doesn’t mean automatically that you can use it without legal obstacles.

What do I mean?

Let’s say, for example, that we have a company that hires a brand-building agency to create a new brand name for its business. The agency does the job and delivers the required brand. From that point we have two possible scenarios:

1. The company applies for a trademark before the local Patent Office and the brand is registered as a trademark without problems. However, another option here is the brand to fail registration because there are identical and similar trademarks for the same name that are already registered by other companies.
2. The second scenario is if the company doesn’t care about the registration of a trademark in which case the company uses its brand seamlessly, relying on pure luck. In this case, however, it is possible for the company to be accused of a trademark infringement by an owner of a registered identical or similar trademark if such exist.

All of that can happen because there is no preliminary trademark search in the brand building stage which to show whether or not earlier registered trademark rights exist.

Although you can use your brand without registration as a trademark, sometimes this could be a risk because it can evoke potential legal conflicts. Even without such problems, the brand owner will be in a more difficult position to defend its brand against infringers in the future because of a lack of registration.

So taking into account these options, trademark search is a vital part of the brand-building process. If you implement such a search in every stage of the process, you will be able to avoid conflicts and reduce risk to your business. Such searches will “red flag” possible issues in the early stages of your business development, which will give you more time to react properly.

In case you are interested in learning how to do trademark searches on your own, check this new Udemy Complete course on trademark search, where you will learn how to implement it for the territories of the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

One key moment when you launch a new brand

Launching a new brand in the market is always a challenge. It requires lots of effort and good business and marketing strategies as a ground.

Before launching the brand, however, you need to have an appropriate brand name which in most the cases is a product of a brand-building process.

You have two main options in that regard, to try to create the brand name on your own, in case that you don’t have a big marketing budget, or to hire an agency that will do that for you.

In both of the cases, however, there is one specific moment that you need to pay attention to. It is related to the question to what extent you can use and protect your brand.

It can sound not so an important issue at first glance but it is. The reason for this is that if you start using a brand for which there are already registered trademarks by someone else, you risk becoming a trademark infringer. This can create a myriad of problems for you including the need to re-brand and pay compensations.

And what is the chance for this?

It is not negligible at least because there are millions of registered trademarks in the world which in turn require a lot of attention when a new brand is introduced in the market.

One of the ways to escape such negative scenarios is a trademark clearance search to be implemented before the launch. This can save you not only time but money but will protect you from legal pitfalls.

If you want to learn how to do such trademark searches in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, you can check this new and useful Udemy course on this topic here.

The most valuable brands in the world for 2017

The Brandirectory published the list of the most valuable brands in the world for 2017. This represents brand evaluation as an intangible asset for the relevant proprietor.

According this rating the first place is for Google (109 billion dollars), followed by Apple (107 billion dollars) and Amazon (106 billion dollars).

More information can be found here.

Brief IP news

1. Apple v. Samsung: The saga continues. For more information here.

2. Claims for patenting methods. For more information here.

3. How Is Your Brand Handling the New gTLDs? More information here.

Information from Intellectual Property Center at the UNWE. More information can be found here

Brief IP news

1. Lindt won a lawsuit for the golden chocolate bear against Haribo. More information here.

2. Why are Chinese brands seen unknown in the US and what can they do about it? More information here.

3. Simplify your logo and turn your brand into a classic – now! For more information here.

Information from Intellectual Property Center at the UNWE. More information can be found here  

Change of fees for registration of trademarks in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Mexico and San Marino

WIPO reports about changes of fees for designation of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Mexico and San Marino in application for international trademarks. The new fees are as follows:

– Tajikistan – can be seen them here. The charges come into force on 09.13.2015.
– Turkmenistan – can be seen them here.  The charges come into force on 09.13.2015.
– Tunis – can be seen them here. The charges come into force on 09.13.2015.
– Mexico – can be seen them here. The charges come into force on 09.13.2015.
– San Marino – can be seen them here. The charges come into force on 16.08.2015.

 

Algeria joins the Madrid Protocol

WIPO reports about the accession of Algeria to the Madrid Protocol for international registration of trademarks. The Protocol will enter into force for the country on 31.10.2015.

Algeria was the last country, part of The Madrid system, which wasn’t sign the Protocol. From now on, all international registrations of marks will be exclusively governed by the Madrid Protocol. As a result, the filing and management of international registrations will be simplified for users.

More information here.