Trademark Protection - What Every SME Should Know
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Are you aware of the trademark protection issues within your business? Liam Birkett, Intellectual Property and Business Development Consultant, gives some important advice to SMEs.
There are a number of issues which anyone thinking of starting a business, to supply products or services, should be aware of.
Ltd. Is Not Enough
There is a misconception that having a limited liability company name or business name registration allows use of that name and provides trademark protection. Not so! The only way to obtain exclusive rights to, and protect, the name under which you wish to trade is by way of trademark registration.
A trademark provides exclusive statutory rights so that a rival cannot legally use an identical or confusingly similar trademark to an earlier registration. The test is whether the overall impression given by the marks at issue is similar. If you infringe, then your investment in design, printing and promotion may be wasted.
The golden rule therefore must be, at the outset, do not attempt to market goods or services until the identity under which you intend to trade has been cleared for use. That is, that it does not conflict with an earlier trademark registration in the target market.
Register Your Trademark
Therefore it is essential that, before using a new identity, a search is made of the trademark registers in the target markets (be that Ireland or further afield) to ensure that it does not infringe the rights of others. Expert advice is advisable because what appears to be clear to the untrained eye may, in fact, conceal a sustainable objection from a rival. Once it has been established that the way is clear the mark should be applied for registration immediately and so secure the position.
Any existing businesses who have not as yet registered their portfolio of trademarks should do so now. It is also worthwhile examining how these can be extended through registration into other classes of goods or services and the new potential for additional branding. It also feasible to apply to register, not only names and symbols, but also, slogans, colours, shapes, sounds and smells.
Protect Your Domain Name
Those who trade on the Internet and who value domain names should take immediate steps to apply to register them as trademarks. If they fail to do this they may quickly build up recognition in the minds of consumers which other, more alert, marketers may exploit. (Registering a domain name does not give proprietary rights!)
A Rival Can “Steal” Your Identity
Consider this scenario; you have a new branding (be that trademark or domain name) which goes, unprotected, into the marketplace. Someone else sees it, thinks “that’s clever”. They search the trade mark register(s), find the way clear, and then file on their own behalf for a similar class of goods or services. Once the registration comes through (which may take up to eighteen months) they can contact you, the original, unregistered user and legally insist that you cease usage of the now registered mark, in trade or as a domain name.
For more information on trademark protection, please contact Liam Birkett, Intellectual Property and Business Development Consultant, by email at birkett@eircom.net.