Trademark Registration
The First Step to Registering Your Trademark
In the 1950s, a company’s success was primarily determined by the quality and value of its products and services. Today, the influence of a brand on purchasing decisions is striking.
There is no doubt that brands have intrinsic value and are essential assets for your business. Registering your trademark is a crucial step to safeguard this value. With our extensive experience in trademark law, we guide you through the trademark registration process – from the initial concept to registration and long-term protection. We help you to secure and protect the value of your brand for the future.
Why Is Trademark Registration Important?
Trademark registration is the first step toward securing an exclusive right that grants you monopoly rights, easily verifiable through public registers.
Taking action against third-party encroachments on your brand is always more complex and resource-intensive without a registered trademark.
Steps to Trademark Registration
- Trademark Research: Before registering and using your trademark, a professional trademark similarity search is essential. We check if a third party has already registered an identical or similar trademark.
- Defining Goods and Services Classes: We create a customized goods and services directory for your business, defining the scope of your trademark’s protection.
- Filing with the Trademark Office: We handle the registration of your trademark in all relevant countries, manage deadlines, payments, and necessary submissions.
- Trademark Monitoring: After registration, we monitor your trademark to identify and address third-party encroachments or conflicts early.
Key Aspects of Trademark Registration
Registering a trademark is more than a formal procedure. The scope of protection for your trademark is determined by its registration. Comprehensive examination and strategic planning are critical to ensuring sufficient protection. We advise on relevant countries and classes for your trademark and help define the optimal protection scope.
Case Studies
- Tech Start-Up: A young company secured its market position in a competitive sector through timely trademark registration.
- Fashion Brand: A strategic approach to trademark registration and monitoring enabled a fashion label to successfully combat counterfeiters.
- Service Provider: By registering its trademark in multiple countries, a mid-sized company achieved an international market entry without legal conflicts.
Trademark Registration Costs
The costs of registering a trademark depend on the number of countries and classes in which you wish to secure protection. Our firm offers a transparent and fair cost structure. We are happy to provide you with a personalized quote.
Our Expertise in Trademark Registration
- Expertise: With decades of experience in trademark law, we provide you with comprehensive expertise.
- Foresight: We identify potential legal conflicts early and develop preventative strategies.
- Solution-Oriented: Tailored solutions and customized strategies for your trademark protection.
- Cost-Effective: Transparent advice to enable well-informed and economically sound decisions.
Schedule a Consultation
Our attorneys, experts in trademark law, are available for personalized consultations. Schedule your appointment now to secure the long-term success of your brand.
FAQs
The duration depends on the responsible trademark office. Generally, processing takes several months.
Costs vary depending on the type of trademark, the countries covered, and the selected protection classes. Contact us for a tailored quote.
Yes, we assist you with the international registration of your trademark in the desired countries.
We provide comprehensive guidance on the steps to take. Whether through an out-of-court settlement or enforcing your rights in court, we ensure your claims are protected.
You can submit your trademark application to the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) without legal assistance. However, it is crucial to ensure that all application documents are accurate and complete. For purely formal errors, there is the option to submit additional documents or make corrections later.
If the application is rejected due to lack of protectability, the DPMA will refuse it – and the fees you have already paid will be lost. To prevent this, you should conduct a thorough search in advance, checking both absolute and relative grounds for refusal.
Note:
Assessing the likelihood of confusion with other trademarks can be complex. You need specialized knowledge to use the relevant databases effectively, and you should be aware of their limited scope. For more comprehensive searches in paid databases, it is often advisable to consult a lawyer. In many cases, it makes sense to extend the search beyond Germany to include both EU and global registers before filing your application.
In addition to similar or identical trademarks, there are also other designations that may not be registered as trademarks but still enjoy trademark protection, such as well-known company names. Given that the courts often apply high dispute values in trademark cases (usually at least EUR 50,000), a professional search is advisable for cost reasons alone.
A lawyer is familiar with the DPMA’s procedures and can correct any errors or inconsistencies in your application documents at an early stage. This helps you avoid delays and saves valuable time – which is critical, as trademark law follows the principle of priority: the first to file secures the exclusive rights.
Our Services
- Legal advice regarding warnings, both for the sender and the recipient
- Enforcement of your trademark in contentious proceedings
- Defense of your trademark rights
- Conducting trademark infringement proceedings
- Representation before all ordinary courts
- Individual advice on your trademark strategy
- Examination of the registrability of your desired trademark
- Drafting a list of goods and services
- Preparation and registration of your trademark
- Trademark monitoring
- Care and management of your trademark
- Deadline monitoring