The protection of industrial property rights, and especially the protection of trademarks, has recently regained importance. This is because with the development of e-commerce, the increased frequency of online content and the various items for sale, it has become critical for new entrepreneurs to establish a way of long-term protection of the brands they choose for their online business.
In this sense, it is important to note that the brand, i.e., the brand identity, is not only the trademark, but it consists of a name, logo, slogan, color, design, etc. Most of these elements may be subject to trademark law protection in most countries around the world.
From the point of view of proper trademark protection, we would like to share some tips that may be useful for new entrepreneurs.
In order to avoid overlapping with existing trademarks, our suggestion is to avoid generic terms when choosing slogans, that is, terms that describe the goods and services to which the trademark applies.
Our next recommendation is to refrain from choosing phrases like “Best”, “Excellent”, “Super”, etc., because they will not serve to get more or better protection.
Before filing a trademark application, not only for online businesses, but also for ordinary businesses, we almost always suggest doing an official research of the registries. In addition to the official research, there is also the possibility of an unofficial search of the online databases, which is usually free, but the results of the same may deviate from the actual situation in the registers.
Trademark protection grants the exclusive right to use expedited with specific goods or services, provided that there are no previously registered similar and/or identical trademarks for the same goods or services. When making a search, it is important to accurately determine the region and classes of goods and services.
Search results are a strong indicator of where trademark protection should go. Missing this step can lead to significant legal and financial problems in the future, especially in a situation where a brand identity has already been created.
Finally, building a brand in the world of social networks and platforms presupposes securing a domain name that goes alongside with the trademark.