Want to Learn more about Trademark?
Do you still remember the last time you learnt a new skill, like swimming or a foreign language?
Did you seek help or engage an instructor?
Likewise, if you want to apply for a trademark by yourself (DIY), wouldn’t it be nice to gain practical insights on the trademark application process from experienced professionals?
Trademark application process may not be as straight-forward as you imagine. In fact, the trademark registration journey never lacks complexities. But wait, what are the benefits of trademark registration in the first place?
Trasomark hears you, and hereby gives our two cents and prepares the following practical checklist special for you. Just stick to our tips so that you could learn more on how to file a trademark application by yourself (DIY trademark application), especially for the concerns before you apply for a trademark ! Here you go!
A Checklist of 20 Practical Tips for Trademark registration
1. My friend told me that filing a logo mark will give me better trademark protection
– What is your trademark? Is it a word mark or a designed logo mark? (Read more about this)
2. The very first thing I can make my life easier for trademark filing journey
– Do you know if your proposed mark is inherently registrable? (Read more about this)
3. You should have a good talk with your designer for your logo
– Did you secure the copyright of your proposed mark? (Read more about this)
4. The logo is my own baby, so logically I should always file the trademark under my own capacity
– Your proposed mark should be filed under your own name, or in your company’s name? (Read more about this)
5. A shareholder agreement is not only the key to your commercial success, but also a vital part of trademark filing strategies
– If the application for trademark is filed in the name of a company, do you have a shareholder agreement to protect the rights of each shareholder? (Read more about this)
6. For your trademark filing campaign, relocation of office matters!
– Do you have a “permanent” address for the Applicant? (Read more about this)
7. If there is a thing you need to consider before filing your trademark, we would say get yourself a domain name
– Did you run a WHOIS search to secure the relevant domain name? (Read more about this)
8. Afterall, trademark filings are highly relevant to your business activities
– What is your business about?
9. It is always a good practice to achieve trademark protection in where you manufacture your products
– Where do you manufacture the products under the trademark? (Read more about this – Big News! For Those Who Manufacture in Vietnam!)
10. A lot of business hiccups will come and haunt you if you do not have trademark registration in your targeted markets
– Where do you sell and promote your products/services under the trademark?
11. To commercialize your trademark, you are bounded to cooperate with third parties
– Do you have any overseas distributors/franchisees/sales agents?
12. Trademark filing strategies require regular review of your business development
– What will be your business development within the next three years? Any expansion of product/ service ranges? Any expansion of jurisdictions?
13. Trademark are classified into forty-five classes, and it is an art to cover better trademark protection under constrained budget
– Which classes do you want to cover by your proposed mark?
14. It goes without saying that foreseeability saves you a lot of energy and troubles
– Conduct a cursory search before your application for trademark, if possible. (Read more about this)
15. The devil is in the details
– Understand the rules and practices of trademark application process of different jurisdictions and prepare the specifications accordingly.
16. You would naturally want to know more about achieving better trademark protection without incurring additional costs
– Whether the marks could be filed in series or multiple classes to save costs?
17. International trademark system could be a cost-saving option for global trademark filing campaigns
– Whether you would like to file individual national trademarks or international trademarks to achieve global coverage?
18. We all like “Priority”, so why not claiming priority for trademark applications
– If filing individual national trademarks, do you want to claim priority based on your first trademark application?
19. Trasomark is an interesting hybrid; a cheaper option than finding an Overall Agent, but more assured about qualities of trademark advice
– Do you want to find an Overall Agent to master the global trademark registration campaign, or locate different local agents across the jurisdictions one by one and handle the filings separately with each of them? (Read more about this – About Trasomark)
20. While you are always encouraged to secure trademark registration as soon as you start your business, surprisingly your commercial use of the mark before trademark application may you overcome some complexities encountered in the trademark application
– Have you been using your proposed mark before the application for trademark? If so, did you preserve the evidence properly?
Marrying Trademark Filing Strategies with Commercial Development
As you can see, application for trademark is not simply a trademark law question – it is also about organic strategic planning taking into account the commercial settings and development of the parties concerned. Coupled with the ever-evolving laws across different jurisdictions, it is not our mission to “train” you to be a trademark specialist. Instead, Trasomark stays with you to guide you through the global trademark registration journey. Each question above obviously demands further explanation and you would gradually get a better idea of how to file a trademark application, simply by visiting our website more!
After reading this Article, we recommend that you also visit another article (I Can Teach You Seven Steps So You Can Trademark!) to understand more about how to file a trademark application
Why do we want to secure Trademark Registration?
Finally, before you apply for a trademark, you should always ask yourself – “What are the benefits of trademark registration” after all these hurdles? Yeti’s story at (Wakeup Call for Shareholders!) would be a good reference. Stay tuned with our blog and you would see the beautiful picture behind and reasons why you need to apply for Trademark Registration.
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