What is a trademark?
Eurimark is helping us for fast trademark registration; we benefit from a 24/7 service to answer our clients' most urgent requests. We appreciate the number of countries covered by the system that allows us to centralize for a single project all the registrations with only one contact.
Eurimark est le système le plus intelligent pour effectuer une recherche globale concernant la protection d'un nom de marque en Europe.What is a trademark ?
Trademark definition
A company's tasks are not confined to organisation and production, but also concern commercialisation of its products and services.
A company's goods and services, as well as its image, have to be visible on the market(s) where products and/or services are to be sold. The trademark is an indispensable instrument for communicating with the public. It also supports the development of the company. The trademark is therefore a key element of the company policy; as a marketing tool it may even constitute the company's main asset. A trademark does not only identify the manufacturer or the service provider: it establishes a trust-based relationship with the purchaser or consumer by offering, inter alia / among others, a guarantee of quality and of origin, i.e. that a Trademark guarantees that the goods and/or services will possess the same level of quality and will originate from the same company, authorising the customer to easily repeat its purchase.
A trademark shall meet two conditions:
• a trademark must be a sign which can be represented in a graphic form,
• and it must make it possible to distinguish goods and services from those of another company.
A Trademark accordingly usually protects a word, phrase, symbol, design, or combination of these things.
Here's the legal definition of a trademark:
"A trademark may consist of any signs capable of being represented graphically, particularly words, including personal names, designs, letters, numerals, the shape of goods or of their packaging, provided that such signs are capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings."
A trademark is not:
• A patent: this right protects the new physical characteristics of a product, or a new method.
• A copyright: this right protects an original expression (artistic or otherwise). For example, music, art, books, and website articles are subject to copyright.
Does a Trademark Search definitively tell me if a mark is available?
Does a Trademark Search definitively tell me if a mark is available?
While trademark searches can provide you with extensive information regarding other marks that may be registered and the status of those marks (i.e., registered, pending or abandoned), searches do not provide answers as to whether your trademark will be registrable.
This can be explained by the combination of several factors.
First of all, the Trademark Office must examine your trademark to determine availability for use and registration. It will in particular evaluate whether your mark meets the legal requirements to become a registered trademark, such as having a distinctive character or being capable of graphic representation.
Please also note that trademark searches do not disclose all trademarks, and that third parties may consider that your trademark application harms their rights, even if their trademark rights have not been disclosed by the search.
Finally, it is also possible that owners of identical or similar trademarks may not see your trademark or may decide not to intervene against your trademark application, even if your application theoretically constitutes breaches on their rights. A trademark search will therefore constitute an assessment of the risks linked to your trademark application, but will not constitute a guarantee of registrability or of rejection.
What are “decisions”?
What are “decisions”?
During examination of an application for international trademark registration, States or organisations can issue “decisions”, i.e. Provisional Refusals: if grounds for objection are found during the ex officio examination, or if an opposition is filed, the Office is entitled to declare that protection cannot be granted to the mark in that State or territory.
Procedures subsequent to the Provisional Refusal (reviews, appeals or responses to an opposition), are notified to the International Bureau once all the procedures before the national or regional Office have been completed, indicating that the provisional refusal is confirmed or is totally or partially withdrawn. This statement is also mentioned in the “decisions” list.
What are “designated countries”?
What are “designated countries”?
In an application for international trademark registration, you shall mention the States or organisations in which you wish the trademark to be protected. These States or organisations are members of the so-called “Madrid Union”, i.e. members of the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks of 1891, and/or of the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement, which was passed/voted in in 1989.
After examination, the International trademark will be protected as a national trademark in these designated countries.
What is the “next deadline”?
What is the “next deadline”?
Some actions have to be conducted at specific time limits:
1. Answer to an Official Action: when an answer has to be submitted to the Office before a specific deadline (see point 14 above), we ask you to provide us with your answer as soon as possible.
2. Answer to an Opposition: after an opposition has been filed against your trademark application, we have to prepare an answer (see point 16 above). We need your approval regarding the content and the type of answer, and therefore – beg you to provide your instructions as soon as possible in order for us to be able to prepare a useful defence.
3. Payment of the Registration Fees: registration fees have to be paid before another deadline, and we need your payment before proceeding to registration. In the absence of any payment, your trademark will not be registered and you will have secured NO rights on your trademark.
4. Renewal: your trademark right is protected for a specific time period, normally 10 years from the application (filing) date. We will send you a reminder, but please take note of this deadline since in the absence of renewal you will lose your rights!
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