Starting Off On The Right Foot With Intellectual Property Registration
We may think that recording intellectual property (IP) ownership rights are somewhat recent event it is not. Even the Romans stamped bricks to show their sign of ownership. Trademark law is quite ancient going out back to the year 1266 in England. The old law known as the “bakers marking law” used to indicate the maker of a loaf of bread. Each baker would have their own registered mark.
Trademark law is very well established world-wide. It is still flouted in some developing counties but that is the joy of the jungle. Most established companies these days have trademark protection or are in the process of getting protection. Most people think that you have to legally register a mark to be able to use it but the opposite is true. You register a mark so that others cannot use it! When you register a trademark you gain the unique right to be the only one to use the mark or to control who can use it.
A trademark is a specific mark that permits customers to distinguish you without seeing your product or service. It is a unique part of your brand. Tests have shown that you can show just part of a well-known trademark and people know which brand it belongs to. This shows the power of a good image and how the brain works at remembering such things. This is why it is important to legally protect important marks and words.
In most countries if you create something yourself you have the sole rights to use this. However if an idea is used by many people it very quickly becomes common property and cannot be registered. It is always best to legally register marks and ideas. Registration legally defines the date of ownership beyond any sense of doubt. In some countries common law gives some trade protection but at the end of the day you have more security if you hire trademark lawyers to protect key IP.
These days you can self-register a trademark but there are inherent dangers of doing this of course. Trademark lawyers of course know how to register and how to protect possession if the rights are misused. They know the full story of registration and protection. If you self-register you may get a cheap registration but you may have left a loop-hole for someone to misuse your rights later on.
Registration of trademarks can be done in one or more countries. Presently there is no such thing as a global trademark. You have to register in all the countries where you require protection.
Registration has become simpler over the recent years with the existence of systems like the Madrid System of International Registration of Marks through the World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva, Switzerland but international registration is still a boring and fairly high-priced process.
Of course the benefits of registering a trademark outweigh the costs and challenges. If you are serious about your company you should be looking into at IP registration today.
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