What is a trademark?

Trademarks are a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable

Sometimes it’s even a smell which identifies products or services of one company from those of its competitors. Moreover, trademarks that are used to identify services are called service marks.

A trademark gives you ownership over your brand which means the exclusive rights to use your trademark in commerce without fear of infringing on someone else’s rights. A trademark also protects your brand from malicious people who may seek to gain an unfair competitive advantage from using your brand. In case of litigation cases against competitors who are infringing on your mark, a registered trademark offers a legal shield needed to stop them effectively. Sometimes people get crafty and create names that are not directly plagiarism but, let’s say, have a similar pronunciation to your name. Trademarks are the solution to this slippery problem that may be created.

Sometimes, your company’s reputation may suffer when someone manages to copy your brand and does a bad job at handling its customers. The public may build a negative image of your brand due to the similarity of your brand and your competitors’. A registered trademark will prevent your competitors from not only stealing your brand but also from copying your brand for their benefit.

A registered trademark typically protects the brand name and logo used on goods and services. Once you have successfully registered your trademark with the Intellectual Property Office, it gives you the right to use the symbol ® or “R” word. A registered trademark works to effectively prevent competitors from using the same or similar trademark in connection with the same or similar products or services.

At OWN-R, we have helped over 1100 clients register their trademarks with a success rate of 99.8%. Our team of legal assistance states that it is important to understand that “without filing a formal trademark registration application, you do not have a legal claim to your brand. In essence, you have the sign but that is all it is.”

If another competitor company wants to steal your brand and register your unregistered trademark, they can easily do so. Luckily, you may be able to oppose the registration of your trademark by another company (that is if you find out about the trademark application before it gets approved) or file a counter lawsuit against your competitors.

An excellent business strategy involves thinking about trademarks from the beginning—preferably when choosing a company name and logo and creating your company.

A registered trademark is protected against another company’s use of the name or image. A registered trademark is a legal registration of the mark. Any future company wishing to register its own design/name/image has to check to be sure that it is not like any registered trademarks. If the image is too similar and is still produced, the company is guilty of trademark infringement.

Registering a trademark gives companies superior rights over others in the U.K. to widely exercise their right to the trademark in their given industry, to differentiate themselves from their competitors and to increase their visibility in the market (to its customers). Properly registered trademarks also provide companies with the ability to legally sue anyone who infringes on their registered trademark. Not only can a registered trademark deter imitators, but it also provides companies with a heavy presumption of ownership in the courts.

Some entrepreneurs will wait up until the last minute to register their marks while others will do it from the beginning. At OWN-R, we advise our clients to start the process as early as possible. It lets the world know that you are exclusively allowed the right to use your mark commercially.

One of our lawyers at OWN-R is quoted as saying “I would strongly advise clients that if they should choose to wait before registering their trademark, they should be informed that the Patent Office rule says that ‘whoever is first to register the trademark, acquires the right for the registered trademark.’“

A UK trademark will last for 10 years. In order to retain the rights to the trademark, you are required to renew your trademark at a cost of ￡200. As long as the required fees for the renewal are paid and the mark is still used commercially, then the trademark registration will be in force.

10 years is a long time and you may forget when your renewal fee is due. This is why at OWN-R, we always give our clients a reminder when the renewal time is near in order to ensure that they continue owning the rights to their own brand.

At OWN-R, we know the trademark process extensively and have a great understanding of our client’s business and their needs with respect to trademark protection.

In most cases, trademarks are registered with the supervision of a legal specialist.

However, a traditional trademark attorney is expensive, so more and more companies and entrepreneurs decide to register their trademarks through OWN-R.

The OWN-R platform helps you specify your needs and provides you with a professional lawyer. The professional lawyers here at OWN-R will supervise the whole process with the help of online tools and will email you reports for a fraction of the traditional price. We are able to give advice pertaining to trademark law and deal with the seemingly daunting work of registering your trademark for you. Each application is dealt with personally by a lawyer and that means that you will not have to respond to any Patent Office inquiries. We let you relax and watch as we secure your brand.