What is a Brand?
It has been increasingly obvious that a brand is one of the most active assets that a company may have. But what is a Brand, and how can and should I protect it?
A Brand is simply a name, a figure, a fantasy term, letters, numbers, a combination of all the prior elements or many others available that is capable of identifying certain products or services and that is capable to distinguishing them of all others existent in the market. The wide rage of possibilities is infinite and dependent only on your immagination.
To accomplish the above, a registration is essential to ensure you exclusive right on the use of the brand for the products and services that you determine and, consequently, to prevent others from immitation or appropriation of the same or similar.
This ownership and exclusivity rights are only achievable by the filing of a trademark registration.
Whether you have a company with its business centered only in Portugal, or with business spread throughout the World, the registration of your trademark is an aspect increasingly relevant that you shouldn't go without.
| What to protect by a Trademark? |
Cares to have |
Competitive advantages to having a registered trademark |
Duration of the trademark |
How to internationalize? |
|
Product name
Service name
Drawing
3D Image
Sound
Slogan
Labels
Hologram
Olfactory
|
Availability search
Market identification (jurisdictions)
|
Market Exclusivity
Identification and differentiation
Value added
High impacto communication tool
Protection against unfair competition
Tangible asset
Creates a quality standard before the market
|
Illimited, if renewed every 10 years
|
European Union Trademark
or
International Trademark
or
National Registration in the target jurisdiction
|
Different possible ways to register a Trademark
There ary several different types of trademarks, namely:
- Verbal Trademarks: Comprised by only verbal elements, be it words, letters or numbers.
- Figurative Trademarks: Comprised by only figurative elements, such as drawings or pictures.
- Mixed Trademarks: Comprised by both verbal and figurative elements.
- Sound Trademarks: Comprised by sounds.
- Threedimentional Trademarks: Comprised by the shape of the product or its package.
- Olfactory Trademark: Comprised by smell.
These types of Trademark registrations may be filed in different ways according to the purpose of its owner.
To help you in your decision on the brand to protect, we have developed a complete searching system that allows us to identify existing registrations in Portugal, European Union and many other jurisdictions giving us the possibility to antecipate any problems that may arise upon the filing of the application.
National Trademark registration
Trademarks are territorial rights, which means that your registration is valid only in the jurisdiction(s) in which it was filed.
As the name conveys, the National Trademark Registration offers exclusivity and ownership rights within the country where it was filed.
European Union Trademark Registration
This registration included all the member states of the European Union.
A European Union Trademark Registration translates into enormous economic savings, as this option for protection is considerably cheaper that filing an individual National Trademark Application in each member state.
On the other hand, it is important to understand that, due to the fact that it is a single registration, a refusal in one of the member states will suffice to refuse the entire European Union application. It is, however, possible to transform after a refusal, a European Union application into different National ones.
International Trademark Registration
A different means for protection is the International Registration.
In this type of protection, an International Registration must be based on a National or Regional application.
In the international filing, a single base fee is paid, and additional fees must be paid for each additional designated jurisdiction (e.g.: United States of America; China). It is possible to designate countless jurisdictions, depending on its being on the list of signatories of the Madrid Agreement/Protocol.
The main advantage of this form of protection is the centralization in a single registration different jurisdictions, with economic gains and allowing for the simple extension to different markets at any given time.
Choosing the best route for registering a trademark can be a complex decision when exporting, but we simplify it. Tell us what are exporting destinations for your brand, and we will suggest you the best route.
Do you think that the Trademark registration is not exactly what you are looking for?
In Portugal, it is possible to file a Logotype.
The Logotype is a brand used to identify and to differentiate your company, always in association with your Economic Classification (the services that your company provides).
As in the Trademark Registrations, it's vital that your company name is dully secured.
In this instance, you will no longer be protecting the specific products or services that you provide, but protectinng the corporate image of your company, differentiating it from your competitors.
Do you already have a Trademark registration?
We must not forget maintenance procedures.
As important as the registration is its maintenance.
A National Trademark registration is valid for 10 years, and may be subsequently renewed for equal periods of time.
During its lifetime, it is important that the trademark is subject to careful monitorization and that all possibly conflicting new application are identified and opposed.
We have different ways to which we may submit your trademark registration. Contact us, and find out which one is best suited for your registration!
