4 tips for filing and exploiting your trademark
It's possible to make your own mark, but it's risky. Indeed, if you are not a professionalwe can easily miss a few key details. Today, our 4 tips for filing and, above all, exploiting your trademark.
Tip 1 - Choosing your brand
Unprotected ideas are in the public domain. Anyone can take them and use them for their own benefit. When starting your business, you will choose a name, which will allow you to make yourself known. This choice is necessary whether you plan to sell products or offer services.
It is important to choose this name carefully, from a marketing but also a legal point of view. In this respect, it is essential to ensure that the name is available. This is essential: you must make sure that you do not risk infringing a prior right, such as someone else's registered trademark. The risk is all the greater as an infringement could expose you and your business to legal action.
Tip 2 - Think about the future
The brand has a lifespan of 10 years, and is renewable indefinitely. Before registering your trademark, think about the long term. Ask yourself where you see your company in 1 year, in 5 years.
Indeed, once the trademark has been registered, it is no longer possible to add goods or services to the wording. Thus, if at the time of the registration, you only target kitchen utensils, and in 2 years, you launch home decoration accessories, you will have to re-register a new trademark. Think broadly but remain reasonable.
Tip 3 - Defend your brand
There is no point in registering your trademark if you are not prepared to defend your monopoly. It is essential to monitor the market (and new trademark registrations)). It is important to ensure that no one uses your brand without your permission.
In most cases, a simple letter of formal notice from a patent attorney will suffice to stop the infringement. Sometimes, it will be necessary to file an opposition against an identical or similar trademark application.
It is strongly advised to be accompanied by a professional during these actions. The latter will put forward legal arguments, which will often have a dissuasive effect.
Tip 4 - Beware of advice from friends
When you start your own business or want to register your trademark, there is always a friend to advise you. Most of the time, the friend in question has already been there and tells you about the problems encountered in his personal experience. Usually he will tell you what to do and what not to do. However, good will is not enough.
The main problem is that the friend is rarely a specialist lawyer. His advice is based on his personal experience. It does not necessarily apply to every case. Moreover, they may be a little dated. The positions of the trademark offices (INPI, EUIPO...) are evolving, as is the legislation. A trademark that was registered 10 years ago could be refused today.
Even if it means asking for advice, it is preferable to contact a specialist lawyer directly...who can answer all your questions.