A registered trade mark safeguards your brand and products/ services. But did you know that you can use a registered trade mark proactively in a number of ways?
· You can use it to secure social media accounts (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, etc) and also to shut down the accounts of infringers.
· You can get websites of infringers shut down by applying directly to the host of the website if contacting the infringer doesn’t work.
· You can stop counterfeit products from being listed on online marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, etc) by applying directly to the marketplaces to have them removed. Again, useful if the seller is ignoring you.
· You can also register your trade mark with customs to prevent counterfeit goods from passing between markets.
· You can ask domain registries / Nominet to cancel/ transfer domains using your name to you.
· You can prevent competitors and lead generators from using/bidding on your brand name in Google ads. (N.B. competitors may be able to use your brand name as a keyword that triggers the display of a Google ad, however this is a legal grey area).
· You can prevent others from getting a trade mark that is similar to yours by opposing their applications. (Official trade mark registries generally inform you about applications and you‘ll have a set period of time in which to oppose them.)
With a registered trade mark, the time and cost required to get the things above sorted out is (even with our help) going to be considerably lower than if you don’t have one. It really helps limit financial and reputational damage to your brand. For the relatively low cost of getting a trade mark registered, the long-term protection for your brand and the ROI is clear.
We can help manage the trade mark application process for you. We’ll search trade mark availability, help you pick the right classification(s) and jurisdictions and get the specification right. And we’ll keep you up to date with any feedback. Check out our Quick Fees Calculator to see how much it will cost to file your trade mark. And click here for FAQs.
