There are many advantages to securing registration of your business’s trade marks, whether it be your product name, business logo or other distinctive branding that you use, such as a catchy slogan or tagline. Below we list the 5 benefits of registering a trade mark for your brand or business.
This post highlights some of the most important advantages that registration brings:
- A registered trade mark will give you an exclusive monopoly over the use of that mark for the goods and services included in your registration, in the country of registration. This means that you can prevent third parties from using an identical or similar trade mark in respect of a similar or competing business, without your consent, unless they started to trade under that mark before you.
- A registered trade mark is easier to enforce than unregistered trade mark rights, allowing you to bring an infringement action in the courts if someone else starts to use a confusingly similar mark for the same or similar goods and services. If your trade mark is not registered, you would instead have to rely on a “passing off” claim which is harder to establish and prove, requiring evidence of ownership of the goodwill in your trade mark and of damage to your business and/or goodwill as a result of the third party’s unauthorised use.
- Registration allows you to use the registered ® symbol next to your mark, as long as this is only used in the country of registration and for the goods and services for which your mark is registered. Use of this symbol puts third parties on notice that your trade mark is registered and that they should not use it or a confusingly similar mark. If your mark is not registered, it is a criminal offence to use the ® symbol, and you would instead need to use the unregistered “TM” symbol next to your unregistered trade mark. The ® symbol also shows that your trade mark is valid and that you are its owner, and that its validity can only be challenged through cancellation of the registration on specific grounds, which must be proven at the tribunal or court.
- A registered trade mark is classified as personal property, which can be commercially exploited as an asset in itself. This means that it can be licensed, assigned and/or used as security for a charge. Your business can use its registered trade marks to gain additional revenue from commercial licensing and other contractual arrangements with third parties.
- Potential investors or purchasers usually require that any trade marks and other Intellectual Property assets in use by your business are registered before they will enter into a deal with your business or company. This is so that they can be certain that your business actually owns all of the IP that it purports to and that these rights are valid and enforceable. The investors or purchasers will want to have the strongest legal protection possible for your assets, that they can rely on if it later transpires that a third party is in breach of your business’s trade marks or brings a claim of infringement or passing off against your business.
Panoramix IP can assist you with registration of your trade marks and other Intellectual Property assets. We can also conduct a thorough review of your business and trade mark portfolio and work with you in formulating a brand protection strategy that fits your particular business needs. Speak with one of our expert team today and get started on protecting your brand assets in the UK and beyond.
