Trade Mark and Domain Name Protection
We can help you with all aspects of the trade mark protection lifecycle: from advice on how to choose a trade mark, checking that no-one has better rights to it, registering trade marks and domain names, dealing with trade marks within your corporate structure, protecting your marks, and managing worldwide trade mark portfolios.
Our services include:
Ideally your brand will be easily registrable as a trade mark. This involves checking both for registrability and availability. When businesses are branding or re-branding, we suggest making a list of possible trade marks and letting us review them in order to minimise problems and expense in the future.
We can undertake a cost-effective preliminary check of relevant registers and domain name spaces for identical marks / names to see whether your initial brand choices can be registered. However, once you have settled upon a chosen trade mark, we recommend a full availability search to check for conflicting marks of similar goods or services.
We file European and Irish trade mark applications ourselves and handle the process through to registration. We can file International applications, which cover a wide range of countries, and arrange filings anywhere in the world through our network of associate firms. We provide estimates on an “all in” fee to registration basis for straightforward applications which provides certainty to your budgeting process. This should not be confused with the "application fee only" cost estimates provided by most trade mark agencies and law firms.
If, after public advertisement, your trade mark application is opposed by the owner of a conflicting mark, or if you wish to oppose someone else’s application, then we will represent you. Similarly, we can represent you in invalidity proceedings brought by a competitor, or which you wish to bring against another party.
We renew marks on a fixed fee basis per mark, not on a “per class basis” like most other firms. A "per class basis" can be many times more expensive.
Applying for trade marks in the name of the right corporate entity is an important consideration. Having had years of corporate legal experience advising on ownership and usage structures, both from a legal and tax perspective, we can advise on appropriate ownership and internal trade mark licensing structures and, if necessary, liaise with your tax counsel in that regard.
Whether licensing, buying or selling trade marks and related domain names, it is important to understand the context and scope of the transaction, the rights being transferred and to reflect this accurately in transaction documents. We can guide you safely through that process.
We have developed and manage a range of worldwide trade mark portfolios through a network of trusted local agents, and can facilitate trade mark protection for your brand anywhere in the world.
Implementing a trade mark watching programme is a useful way of identifying what is happening in your market sector, and of identifying potentially conflicting trade mark applications and opposing them before they become a problem. Trade mark watching programmes do not need to be expensive but can be very effective in heading off would-be competitors with conflicting marks.
Protecting the integrity of a brand includes ensuring that no one is using a conflicting mark for the same or similar goods or services such that there could be any confusion created in the marketplace. We undertake brand enforcement programmes for several well-known brands in the Irish marketplace.
Preventing “fake” goods or unauthorised parallel imports from entering the Irish marketplace is a more effective strategy than trying to address the problem once they have flooded the market. Taking a two-pronged approach by addressing the known infringer directly and by applying in advance to have infringing goods stopped at the border is the most effective approach, and we regularly assist clients in this regard.
Getting dispute strategy right from the outset is key. To be effective, this requires not only an understanding of the technical name protection or trade mark issues and knowledge of how to avoid putting your own marks or position at risk, but also a sense of how best to make the other side engage properly with the issues. For this reason, it is important not to do anything before taking expert advice.
+353 (0)1 961 8928
Acuatus Limited
Registered Irish Trade Mark Agents & European Trade Mark Attorneys
29 Anglesea St
Dublin 2
D02 Y884
Ireland
trademarks@acuatus.com