New year, new product? Or just looking to refresh your brand? Be sure to follow these tips to ensure a smooth process from brand selection to launch and avoid costly challenges and disputes along the way.
1. Start early
Clear names, logos and branding for use at the outset, and as early as possible ahead of your planned launch (ideally 6 months+). Engage your design or marketing team in the brand clearance process before they start work on a new name, logo or style. So often clearance is an afterthought when the brand has been chosen, with teams wedded to it and rollout already underway. At this stage if a challenge is encountered the time and expenditure already incurred may go to waste, and even if the challenge is manageable, the associated cost and delay to your launch may not be.
2. Long-list to Short-list
We offer fast-turnaround ‘knockout’ searches for ‘long-lists’ of potential names/logos, to quickly discount any which look problematic. A short-list can then be prepared and additional searches considered.
3. Full clearance searches
Once you have a short-list of perhaps 1-3 preferred names or logos, conduct full clearance searches of the relevant trade mark registers as well as common law or ‘in-use’ searches.
These searches can be staggered according to preference of name/logo, geographical scope and in line with your budget. Although anyone can conduct identical searches of many trade mark registers, and look for identical names/logos currently in use by using search engines, similar trade marks can be equally problematic and specialist searching software and professionals are required for this.
Once the search data is received, we will analyse the results to provide a clear and concise assessment of the risks posed by any identical or similar trade marks. Trade marks registers are extremely crowded and it can be difficult to come up with an entirely original name or brand, but understanding what the risks are and if those risks are manageable for your business is key to the success of your brand launch.
4. File Applications
With our help you have selected a name or logo and you should now file applications in all relevant territories to protect that trade mark from third party use or misappropriation. If your brand will span multiple territories, this stage can be staggered using the six-month ‘priority’ afforded by your first application. This helps to manage budget by spreading cost and can be used to draw out potential challenges that may have been identified by the searches.
We will advise on the most cost-effective and comprehensive registration strategy for your brand and budget; different positioning of words and logos, colour variations and other versions of your trade mark may be used in practice, and with separate applications usually required for each, the costs can mount up. We will ensure that you secure the broadest possible protection for your business within your budget.
If your brand launch is highly confidential, we can advise how you can shield your application from public view for as long as possible whilst having your all-important ‘flag in the sand’.
5. Swiftly deal with objections or challenges
Unfortunately, objections from trade mark offices and third parties are common, but if you have followed the steps above these should be minimised. In the event of an objection, we are on hand to quickly and efficiently guide you through the process of overcoming the challenge and navigate towards a successful registration.
6. Additional Considerations.
You may have a new product or packaging design, or need a new domain name for your product or brand. We can advise on the registration of designs and registration or acquisition of domain names.
You will also want to ensure that once your brand is selected third parties do not encroach on your rights. A trade mark watch can be put in place providing early notification of any identical or similar third party trade mark applications that you may wish to challenge. We can also provide online monitoring for your product or brand to alert us to unauthorised use of your trade mark online.
If you are thinking about launching or refreshing your brand and would like our help, our trade mark attorneys are happy to have an initial chat. Get in touch here or email hello@two-ip.com
