Knowledge

Do you still remember how a name was given to your newborn lovely child? Making a long list of possible names only ended with a civilized “war” with your spouse? Equally, thinking up a trading name for your start-up, a new product or service, could well be a “torturing” exercise, where hours are spent for exploring ideas, seeking advice and consensus from partners/ friends, or even fortune-tellers.

Your trademark journey could come into an unwelcomed halt if the Trademark Registrar raises two main grounds, namely, absolute and relative grounds for refusal of trademark.

Trademark laws, to a certain extent, are universal. We have international treaties, international registration systems, similar classification systems, etc. Then, there are two major legal systems in this world, common law and civil law. So should we bother with the two systems, from the perspective of trademark laws?

The above are some headlines easily found and randomly selected from a google search! From a strategic standpoint, business owners nowadays are overwhelmingly advised that they can ill afford the non-registration of their trademarks.

One of the common hottest issues which hang around in the mind of kick-starters, and which is definitely worth a discussion. For easier illustration, we now presume that you have just set up a LONGCLEAN Company Limited for retailing PICKY branded personal care products. While registering the brand name – PICKY may be a no-brainer, it might puzzle you:

You now have a strong mark called “Trasomark”, which is a (Plain) Word Mark. To turn it in style, you ask a designer to help you create a logo like “our logo” (isn’t it cool?), or what we called a Logo Mark.

Welcome for dipping your toes into the world of trademark! As you may expect, Trademark application process could not always be straightforward. Here we summarize a few common hiccups which could block your applications for trademarks:

As a sensible businessman, you probably know too well about the importance of registering global trademarks. That said, do you have any idea about the global trademark registration cost?

A registered trademark ®is like a superhero emblem for your business. It’s a rather unique symbol, word, design or phrase that can effectively distinguishes your goods and services from all other competitors in the market and in turn helps protect your brand’s reputation.

Your trademark journey could come into an unwelcomed halt if the Trademark Registrar raises two main grounds, namely, absolute and relative grounds for refusal of trademark.

At the first glance, to ask “if a pre-application trademark search is necessary” sounds silly enough! One day a man comes with a crystal ball, suggesting to you that the ball can tell if your new juice business will become a red hot hit in 6 months’ time, won’t you be tempted to try this magical ball.

When you Google “Copyrights” and “Trade Marks”, many articles will tell you: What is copyright? What is a trademark? What are the similarities between trademarks and copyrights? What are the differences between trademarks and copyrights?

In fact, it is rather uncommon that a corporate operates in the same premises forever. It could well be that your business has outgrown your current space, or that you need to move closer to your biggest clients or a certain government bureau.

Welcome aboard to the DIY trademark registration journey. As a newcomer, you need to learn quickly from your internet surfing, and “trademark classes” would definitely be the first keywords encountered. The below questions would then probably follow:

As you begin reading this article, we would like to take a moment to say congratulations to you as your trademark application has now reached the crucial stage of 3-month opposition period of the trademark (Brazil and Macau are exceptions (See I Can Teach You 7 Steps So You Can DIY Trademark Registration).

Have you ever queued up for hours in the sun at a theme park, only to ride your favorite roller coaster for a mere three minutes? Well, our smart and affluent readers may be interested in spending a little extra cash to secure a quick pass and skip the “build-up” of fun!

Since trademark registration is only part of your overall company strategies, its success or not should be seen in a broader context, i.e., the corporate structure of your company.

I am not a fan of do-it-yourself (DIY). There is nothing against DIY, but I just don’t get this in my locker. To be on the same page with you, however, I have boldly decided to DIY a new bookshelf myself! After all, I like challenges!

Trust me, a trademark agent could be really poor, and worse still it is not rare at all! While it is hard to swallow, the facts remain that no/little regulation is in place on the qualifications of trademark agents in many jurisdictions.

The Trasomark Model (we charge an annual modest fee to act as your advisor for your trademark journey) is rather innovative. While we are external to you (we are not your employee), we are also your internal advisor because our interests will be closely aligned with yours (our charges simply won’t be increased regardless of any next step you will take).