How to register a trademark?

When you decide to register your logo or name, you must ensure that your trademark will be registrable at the Intellectual Property Office. What makes a name unregistrable? You should ensure that your potential trademark is not misleading, common or offensive in order to make sure it qualifies for registration.

Make up a name since coined names have the best chance of getting registered (think Microsoft, IKEA or even Xerox). Avoid using a word that explicitly describes the good or service that you offer. Also, you should avoid using a word of another famous brand without their written permission. For entrepreneurs who wish to start an entirely new company and are looking to set themselves apart from the competition. The advantage of a made-up name is that you are less likely to encounter other existing companies operating under the name.

In this article, you will find out about the important steps when it comes to the registration process of a trademark.

Trademark registration is for all business owners. Whether you own a small business or a large one, you are at liberty to register your trademark for your business. Most trademark registration processes are better handled by experts like us, at OWN-R.

The road to trademarking is made simpler by us since we have proven methods when it comes to effectively registering your trademark. Below we have the steps needed to register your trademark with us.

You will need to carry out an exhaustive search of the database in order to ensure that you are not infringing on anyone’s rights by trying to register your mark. A lot of research goes into this before proceeding into any other stage. Due to the delicate nature of this stage, you are advised to seek professional help from veterans of the trademark law in order to avoid making any costly mistakes.

At OWN-R, we have the tools to help you carry out a free basic verification search of your intended trademark on our website. We will then help you register your trademark, step by step in a simple and hassle-free manner.

Think ahead in terms of which classes to file under.

Trademarks can be used for up to 10 years until they need to be renewed. Hence, before you decide which classes you want to file under, determine what you intend for your business to look like in 1 year or even in 5 years. If you intend to expand your business into other units, then consider filing under more than one class in order to save money and time in the future.

You should not register your trademark for classes that you do not intend to operate in since your trademark may be deemed obsolete after 5 years of non-use meaning that you can lose the rights to operate under that particular class. Choosing which classes to file under also requires careful and tactical deliberation.

It is therefore quite possible to choose the wrong class if you are not experienced in filing trademark applications.

You will then be required to provide us with some important details and documents pertaining to your trademark registration. These documents are important for us to prepare to register your trademark and to ensure we do it right and efficiently.

As soon as our lawyers have everything that is required to register your trademark, then they begin taking care of the entire process.

As our lawyers are dealing with delivering your registered trademark, you can track the progress of the registration from the comfort of your home or place of business. You will get notified every time the status changes in the Intellectual Property Office.

It sometimes happens that the Patent Office may raise issues to do with your registration. We will answer any of their inquiries and make any necessary follow up with the Intellectual Property Office with regard to your application.

At OWN-R, we have representatives who will be assigned to your trademark application for the sole purpose of answering these inquiries. We ensure that you, as the client are taken care of with the highest precision.

The process of registering a trademark can take up to 4-5 months depending on the complexity of your registration. Once the Intellectual Property receives the application, they will send feedback on the application within 5-15 days. If there are no further objections from the IPO, they will publish your application in the trademarks journals for 2 months which can sometimes be extended to 3 months. This is to give anyone the right to oppose your application if they feel it may be infringing on their own trademark. Should your application be opposed, the IPO will inform us, and we will seek to resolve the issue as soon as possible to avoid any delay in the registration process.

As long as your trademark is not opposed after the opposition period ends, your trademark will be registered within 2 weeks and you will be issued with the certificate.

At OWN-R, our lawyers have noted one big mistake when it comes to trademark registration.

“Even if you manage to register a trademark but you don’t have a good knowledge of trademarks you might realise later that it was registered wrongly. So, in essence, you might think that you have a sense of protection by having registered the trademark wrongly without the help of a trademark lawyer. Later you may come to the painful realisation that you have spent money to register your mark but had not really got the protection you had intended due to an error in filing. The mistake lies in having limited knowledge of trademark law. Seeking the counsel of a trademark lawyer is always advised to save money and time.”