Importance of a Trademark
Organisations fail to acknowledge the importance of their brand’s intangibles assets, but they are very often underlying to buildings relationships between their customers and businesses. Components like a logo or brand-specific colours help your brand to be distinct and enable customers to quickly identify your products within the market. However, if your business has built success and goodwill, your intellectual property may be at risk to attempts to copy these elements by competitors. Registering a trademark to protect each of these assets is a critical way to protect your business’ reputation and avoid losing customers.
Types of assets can be protected by trademarks
Trademarks are constructed to protect distinctive brand assets. There are a number of components that may be included in (or wholly constitute) a trademark, including:
- Logos
- Words – a slogan or product name
- Sounds or music
- Colours
How to register a trade mark
Before you begin the process of registering your trademark, another consideration to make is whether any identical or similar brands have already been registered. You should search the government’s trademark database and the EU’s trademarks register to ensure that there are no existing trademarks or pending applications for similar or identical assets. If there are, you may still be able to register but you’ll need to contact the owner of the earlier trademark.
You can apply to register your trademark online or in writing. Applications cost £170 for one class and an additional £50 for each additional class.
If you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact our experienced Commercial Litigation team at Bond Adams LLP Solicitors. You can contact us on 0116 285 8080 or email us at lawyers@bondadams.com