Your brand sets your business apart. Trade marks are valuable assets which can help you to grow your business by generating income, investment and borrowing.
Registered trade marks
Trade marks can be registered with the Intellectual Property Office in the UK and abroad. Registration enables the owner to prevent unauthorised use for 10 years and can be renewed indefinitely.
Trade marks can be registered in a business name, product or service name or logo. They may also be registered in a colour, shape or sound.
The name or logo needs to be distinctive and generally should not describe the product or service, it also should not be too similar to existing trade marks or brand names.
When to consider a trade mark
Registering a trade mark should be one of the first steps taken when starting a new venture to ensure the brand is protected and will not infringe an existing registration.
Owning a trade mark is now vital to prevent brand hijacking online. Many online search providers and ecommerce sites will require evidence of registration before taking action against infringers.
Trade mark infringement
You can prevent others using an identical or similar name or logo or one that takes unfair advantage of your trade mark. This does not have to involve going to court. We take a step by step approach that often yields results without a legal claim.
If you are facing a threat of trade mark infringement we can help you defend the claim and resolve disputes.
The Intellectual Property Office provides a tribunal service for parties to oppose applications for new registered trade marks or cancel existing registrations. We can guide you through the process and often obtain a result before formal proceedings are required.
We can help you with
- Trade mark registration
- Pre-registration trade mark searches
- Trade mark licensing and assignment
- Opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Intellectual Property Office
- Infringement claims
- Co existence agreements