Before you register your brand name or logo as a trademark, you should first check whether it meets the formal requirements. The trademark application has a chance of success only if the strict registration requirements are met. Our trademark attorneys who specialize in trademark law carry out the relevant DPMA trademark registration.
You can register your mark as a trademark, whether you are doing so as an individual or as a company. However, it is relevant in which country you want your trademark to be protected. The trademark registration (Dresden, Chemnitz, Leipzig and Munich as well as other nationwide registrations) and their registration basically have the advantage that you can protect the value of your brand name and thus build up assets. At the same time, you protect yourself against competing brands and prevent brand piracy and fraud. Registering the trademark and thereby protecting the brand name should therefore be a focus in your business decision.
You can register your mark as a trademark, whether you are doing so as an individual or as a company. However, it is relevant in which country you want your trademark to be protected. Therefore, according to the four-tier system in the EU, you may be eligible for the following local filing strategies and thus protection strategies:
Protection in an EU member state à registration at the relevant national office for intellectual property (in Germany at the German Patent and Trademark Office, DPMA, for example).
Protection in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg à registration with Benelux Intellectual Property Office BOIP.
The protection of an existing trademark is to be extended internationally (international procedure) à Application depending on the intended extension, i.e. national (DPMA), regional(Benelux Office for Intellectual Property), EU-wide(EUIPO) or international, e.g. to the USA (WIPO).
If you want to protect your sign and register a trademark, this should be well planned. The reason is not only that there may be trademark collisions with already registered trademarks or property rights, that your trademark does not have the scope of protection you envision, or that the trademark application is rejected by the respective office and fees already paid will not be refunded.
A good branding strategy not only includes the design and type of the sign that you want to register, but also the local scope of protection (see above) and the goods and services that match the brand.
white ip | Patent & Legal sees itself as your specialized attorney for trademark law in the national as well as international area and furthermore serves clients as a trademark attorney in Dresden, Munich, Berlin and Leipzig.
