Blog Archive

• The renewal of a trade mark
  Posted by Jane Coyle on August 06, 2015 / Posted in Trade Marks
  Once you have registered your trade mark, the protection over the mark will only last for ten years.
  Once you have registered your trade mark, the protection over the mark will only last for ten years. Therefore if you want to continue using the mark and enforcing intellectual property rights over it, an application for the renewal of your trade mark needs to be submitted.  A registered trade mark can last indefinitely if it is renewed every ten years. To renew your mark, an application to the UK intellectual property office needs to be made. An application for renewal can be made up to [...]
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• Protecting a registered trade mark
  Posted by Jane Coyle on August 05, 2015 / Posted in Trade Marks
  A brief look at the steps that can be taken to protect a trade mark.
  The proprietor of a registered trade mark should take steps to protect the trade mark.  Protecting the registered trade mark is effectively protecting the brand or businesses most valuable asset. Although not a legal requirement, the use of a trade mark notice can help to inform people to the intellectual property rights in the mark. Unchallenged infringement can dilute the value of the trade mark. Infringement is the unauthorised use of the mark, this can come in the form of counterfeit [...]
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• The application process for registering a trade mark
  Posted by Jane Coyle on August 05, 2015 / Posted in Trade Marks
  When you are looking to register a trade mark, the application will be dealt with by the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO). They oversee all activity in relation to all types of intellectual property in the UK, not only trade marks.
  When you are looking to register a trade mark, whether that is for a UK mark or a Community Trade Mark for protection across the EU, the application will be dealt with by the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO). They oversee all activity in relation to all types of intellectual property in the UK, not only trade marks. The IPO website outlines the process to submit an application to register a trade mark, including fees and time-scales. The first stage, suggested by the UK IPO is to make [...]
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• How to create a successful trade mark
  Posted by Jane Coyle on August 04, 2015 / Posted in Trade Marks
  Absolute certainty on an application can’t always be achieved but positive steps can be taken when deciding on your mark to give the application the best chance possible.
    Outlined in this article are a number of ways to ensure that your trade mark will be successful.  Absolute certainty on an application can’t always be achieved but positive steps can be taken when deciding on your mark to give the application the best chance possible. Distinctiveness is key - When designing the mark, the more distinctive it is, the more it will stand out from competitors. If a mark is too descriptive of the goods or services it represents then it is highly [...]
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• Trade Marks- Protecting Your Brand
  Posted by Jane Coyle on August 04, 2015 / Posted in Trade Marks
  Why register a trade mark?
  The value of Apple’s brand was $124.2 billion in 2014. Microsoft’s brand was worth $63 billion. And Google’s brand was worth $56.6 billion. That’s a lot of money for an intangible asset. Even if your company’s brand isn’t worth as much Apple, Microsoft, or Google, it’s still worth protecting. The most visible component of your brand are the logos, words or phrases that instantly identify your goods and services to customers. For example, the Nike [...]
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• Deciding trade mark jurisdiction
  Posted by Jane Coyle on August 03, 2015 / Posted in Trade Marks
  brief look at the various types of trade marks and their jurisdictions.
  A trade mark functions to be a mark of origin, it serves to distinguish goods or services of one undertaking to those of another. To be capable of this function, a trade mark needs to be distinctive. Trade marks that are devoid of any distinctive character shall not be registered.   As trade marks are territorial, the jurisdiction of the trade mark is also an important issue to take into account.   A UK trade mark registration, as the name suggests, only covers the UK. The law for [...]
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• Buying and selling of a trade mark
  Posted by Jane Coyle on August 03, 2015 / Posted in Trade Marks
  With trade marks being such a valuable business asset, there is a big market in the buying and selling of them.
      With trade marks being such a valuable business asset, there is a big market in the buying and selling of them. Just like any other type of property, trade marks can be sold for an amount of money. The sale of a trade mark is known as an assignment, with the buyer being the assignee and the seller referred as the assignor. An assignment works almost the same way as a normal buy/sell agreement but under section 24 of the Trade Marks Act 1994; there are a number of particulars [...]
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• What does a trade mark notice do?
  Posted by Jane Coyle on August 01, 2015 / Posted in Trade Marks
  A brief look at the legal significance of trade mark notices.
  It is not a legal requirement to use the ‘®’ symbol with a registered trade mark, it is however a criminal offence to use the ‘®’ symbol to falsely represent that a mark is a registered trade mark. It can therefore only be used in conjunction with a registered trade mark.     The widely known ‘TM’ symbol does not have any legal significance, thus it may be used in conjunction with an unregistered mark, it does not prohibit someone else from [...]
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