Designed to distinguish products and/or services from those of competitors, a trade mark is something we have all heard of.
But what exactly is it, and how can you register one to protect your brand?
In a nutshell, registering a trade mark will allow you to:
- Take legal action against anyone who uses your brand without your consent
- Place the ® symbol beside your brand name
- Sell and license your brand.
Once you have a trade mark, it will last for ten years. This must then be renewed every ten years for it to remain in place.
What are the dos and don’ts?
A trade mark can be utilised to safeguard your brand’s words, sounds, logos, colours, or a mixture of all of these.
However, it is important that you follow the guidelines. You must not:
- Be offensive
- Explain the goods or services it will correlate to
- Be deceiving
- Be too conventional and non-distinctive
- Use just a generic shape
- Make use of flags, emblems or hallmarks you do not have authorisation for.
How much does it cost?
The minimum cost of registering a trade mark is £170.
However, this fee can go up depending on individual cases, for example, how many types of products or services you are looking to protect.
How do you apply?
All details of your trade mark, and what exactly you want to use your trade mark on, must be sent to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).
This can be done online or by post.
The IPO will:
- Make sure that your trade mark is not identical, or similar to, one that already exists
- Issue details of your application in the journal, in case another party wishes to oppose it.
Need advice on matters relating to Intellectual Property? Contact our team today.