Businesses are usually identified by their brand which can be an individual word, name, letter, phrase, slogan, logo, shape, colour, size, number, or image.
For example, companies like Louis Vuitton need nothing more than a symbolic shape or colour – in this case, their LV monogram – as an identifier. And MacDonalds has the famous M.
Just like these major global companies, with their substantial reputations, you can also secure your logo by registering it as a trademark.
So, what is a Trademark?
A Registered Trademark is Intellectual Property (IP) which is enforceable. By registering a trademark, you set your goods and services apart from your competitors. You will be in a legal position to stop copycats. Registering a trademark assists in protecting your business from others and protects your brand identity.
What can go wrong with a trademark registration?
However, be wary, for a registration to be enforceable, the devil is in the detail. Sometimes technical faults in application detail can render the trademark invalid. This, of course, will be argued by the defence of a copycat rival during Court. Many instances exist where a copycat legal trademark has succeeded in having a Registered Trademark removed or revoked because the owner didn’t understand the legals when applying.
A few examples have been reported previously – see the Clipso, Anchorage, Godzilla and Chanel Court cases.
Why do you need to Trademark the logo of your brand – is it really that necessary?
It mostly depends on the success rate of your business. A successful business has a more valuable trademark. As your business reaches greater heights of success day by day, the more important it becomes for you to protect your brand’s reputation. When you become the owner of a registered trademark in Australia, you are said to have a trademark monopoly right.
You get the exclusive right to use your registered trademark as your brand. It can only be used for your goods and services (as registered). Importantly, you can prevent others from registering trademark rights to your brand, or similar.
With a trademark, if you so desire, you can authorise other businesses to use your trademark. Once you trademark a logo, it becomes your intellectual property which you can sell or license to third parties.
After registering your trademark, you will be in a stronger legal position where you can stop others from using your trademark (or similar) as their brand name, plus you can take action in the Federal Court and litigate for damages or lost profit.
IP Australia has provided a full list of the various types of trademarks. Checking out this list will help you to assess which elements of your logo you can actually trademark. There are standard, series, collective, divisional, certification and many other types of trademarks.
Now that you know more about the reasons for trademarking a logo, the question arises: how can you apply for a trademark?
Before applying for a trademark, you first need to determine whether or not you are eligible to apply. You need to be either using, or have an intention to use, the trademark in relation to the goods and services you are going to register. You can apply for a trademark whether you are a company, an individual, an incorporated association, or a combination of any of these. You have to apply for the trademark as a business owner (being an individual, company etc.) but cannot apply under your business name, as that is not a legal entity.
Before applying, ensure that your trademark does not conflict with other already registered trademarks. You can check this with the help of the Australian Trademark Online Search System. Most of the time, when doing this, what is missed are similar names, and it is difficult without the help of a Trademark Lawyer to know if a trademark is in conflict. So it is recommended to seek professional advice, so as to avoid litigation and failed trademark applications.
There are certain other important points that you have to keep in mind before applying for a trademark.
You cannot register common surnames or geographical names as trademarks. The trademark also should not mislead the public about the nature of the services and goods. There are many other rules regarding prohibited names and symbols.
Registering a trademark for your brand or business is quite a simple process if you correctly follow all the rules, based on Trademark Act principles. An experienced Trademark Lawyer will assist you by guiding you through this process, ensuring that problems and conflicts are minimised.
Contact us today by filling out our Contact Form, or calling us on 1300 138 802.
