Trademark Watch – Why monitor your trade mark?

Why should I monitor trade marks?

The number of trade marks is growing every year on the current market and today it is important not only to come up with a unique name/logo but also to make sure that you are alone about it. Once you have succeeded in getting your unique name/logo registered as a trade mark, you may think that your work is done here – but I can assure you that only half of the work is done at this stage. To get your trade mark registered is one thing but preventing others from trying to register an identical or similar trade mark is another. A registered trade mark does not per se prevent others from using or apply for identical or similar trade marks. It is you as the trade mark owner who has to ensure that no other company enters the market with a similar mark. One of the prominent trade mark offices, EUIPO, does not examine trade mark applications by checking current similar trade marks. Therefore, it is important to monitor which trade marks are filed for registration. If you do monitor your trade mark, you may detect potential infringers or similar trade marks in time to oppose within the opposition period which runs for a few months after the application date.

What if I don’t monitor trade marks?

If you only register your trade mark and don’t monitor trade marks someone might start using similar or even identical trade mark to yours and build goodwill around it in connection to their business. If you, at this point, would like to begin a legal process against the use and registration it will be a difficult and expensive process with no guarantee to succeed. In worst case, you might have to live alongside this trade mark on the market which might be damage to your trade mark value.

How do I monitor trade marks?

We offer trade mark monitoring worldwide, and report to you when any similar trade mark to yours is filed for registration. By using our trade mark watch service, you may only receive the relevant results from us which we evaluate to be important to act upon.

What do I do when a similar trade mark to mine is discovered?

Contact us, or we contact you due to our discovery in the trade mark watch service. We do the assessment whether the similar trade mark causes confusion similarity with yours or not. When discovering confusion similarity, we file an opposition through the trade mark authority in order to stop the registration. An opposition might end up in an amicable solution between the parties, such as a co-existence agreement, in accordance to which your interests are satisfied in order to prevent confusion similarity, or with filing argumentations through the trade mark authority in a formal legal process to let the judge decide.