Trademark (TM) is a unique symbol, word, phrase, design, or any other designation that identifies the goods or services of one business and distinguishes them from similar products of another.
For me personally, TM is not just a logo or a name.
It is a concept, an association, an emotion between a certain event in your life and the brand.
Why register a trademark?
Quite often you can hear stories about how a certain company registers its brand (TM) after entering the market, working for several years and scaling. In their opinion, trademark registration was not necessary until they decided to go outside of Ukraine.
Yes, trademark registration is not an obligation to carry out entrepreneurial activity. However, I think it's in your best interest to do everything you can to protect it from misuse.
The main functions of a trademark include:
- Identification (or distinctiveness) of your product.
- Quality guarantee. Customers associate a brand with a certain standard of quality.
- Marketing and advertising. TM serves as an effective tool for advertising and brand positioning in the market.
- Legal protection. TM is a tool for protection against unfair competition.
Let's imagine the situation that you came up with your brand (name, logo, color), but the trademark was not registered.
Your business is going quite well, your goods or services are being sold, you invest in their advertising every time, you are expanding your client base, and you are planning to go outside of Ukraine.
However, unexpectedly, you find out that your competitor is selling their product (actually similar) using your name or logo. And some of your customers probably think it's your business too.
What can be done in such a case if the trademark is registered?
Having a registered TM, we could:
- apply to a competitor with a claim regarding the use of your TM;
- initiate criminal proceedings;
- defend your violated right in court;
- apply to AMKU;
- other methods of protection.
That's how many options and methods of protection you get after TM registration.
If you have not registered your trademark, and your logo is "parasitic", the number of protection options is significantly reduced.
Therefore, if you need to register a trademark or ensure the protection of an already registered one, we will gladly help you with this.
