Trademark Services

Of course, branding is mainly about marketing. However, the legal aspects should not be underestimated: Perform proper trademark research to avoid having to rebrand later on because you are infringing on someone’s rights. If you plan to register your brand name as a trademark, make sure that your brand is not excluded from registration, e.g. because it’s misleading or descriptive for the services you’re offering. And, depending on your industry: How strong is your brand name as a trademark? To fight off copycats efficiently, the trademark should be as distinctive as possible. 

No. A trademark is not needed to offer goods or services. If you prove that you used the trademark for certain things in the past, no one can prohibit you the use it to the same extent by registering “your” trademark. However, registration is still useful in many cases. 

This highly depends on your intended use. As a rule of thumb: The stronger your brand, the more useful the trademark. The more you rely on the quality of your goods/services and not on its uniqueness, the more useful the trademark. If you’re in the B2C-business and have a large customer range, it’s more useful than if you have a few specialized business clients that know you personally. Also, take into account which markets your present. If you are not sure, ask an expert. 

The trademark gives you the freedom to use it for the goods and services you registered for. But that’s just the beginning: To prevent the weakening of your trademark, you should fight off new registrations or unregistered use of similar marks. The easiest way to do this is by monitoring new registrations and informing any noticed infringers about your rights. Also, you can assess whether you can capitalize your trademark, e.g. by licensing it. 

Contact a legal expert. Often, such letters are baseless or even a scam, but sometimes the other party is correct and you should try to negotiate an amicable solution.