Protect your brand with a trademark

Are you a business owner seeking expert trademark advice to protect and enhance your brand? Look no further! LawBite is a digital legal services platform that is changing the way legal advice is delivered to entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs. 

Our mission is to make legal services more accessible and user-friendly, offering practical solutions that will safeguard your business's future success. With LawBite as your trusted partner, navigating the legal landscape becomes a seamless and empowering experience.

When it comes to trademarks, seeking professional legal advice is paramount. Trademarks are essential assets that distinguish your goods and services from others, giving your brand a unique identity. A registered trademark provides exclusive rights to use the mark, preventing others from using it without your permission. 

Trademark advice

Trademark protection is a complex area of law and it’s vital that you seek trademark legal advice as early as possible in your journey. Whether you need assistance in identifying potential trademarks, registering them, or protecting your brand from infringements, LawBite's team of expert trademark solicitors is here to guide you every step of the way. 

Here’s how we can support your business with trademark protection:

Ensuring non-Infringement 

Before filling your trademark, it’s crucial to check existing trademark registers to ensure you are not infringing upon someone else's rights unintentionally. Our expert lawyers will conduct thorough searches, giving you the confidence to move forward with your chosen trademarks without any legal complications.

Identifying and registering your trademarks 

Our team of skilled trademark lawyers can help you identify trademarks that your business owns. Once identified, we will efficiently handle the filings and applications, ensuring your trademarks are registered with the Intellectual Property Office

We then monitor the entire process, liaising with the Intellectual Property Office as and when necessary. With our assistance, you can rest assured that your trademarks are protected from potential infringement disputes.

Commercialising your trademarks

Maximising the value of your trademarks is essential for business growth. We can offer guidance on how to best commercialise your trademarks, ensuring they become valuable assets that boost your brand reputation and profitability.

Trademark infringement claims

The trademark advice we offer also extends to handling third-party trademark infringement claims, whether this is defending your trademark in the context of opposition proceedings or pursuing somebody who is breaching your Intellectual Property Rights. This includes expert business legal advice and recommendations about strategy and negotiations, as well as drafting pre-action correspondence and formal statements of cases.

International trademark registration

If you plan to expand your business globally, protecting your trademarks internationally is vital. Our skilled lawyers will assist you in navigating the complexities of international trademark registration, safeguarding your brand on a global scale.

What can you expect from our trademark lawyers?

From the very beginning of your trademark protection process, our trademark solicitors will be on hand to ensure you are in the best position to achieve success. Our trademark lawyers can provide expert trademark legal advice and help you with all aspects of protection.

Having trademark protection will mean your brand is recognised, trusted and loved by your customers. At LawBite, we want nothing more than to see businesses thrive and prosper which is why our trademark lawyers will support you in every way they can to ensure legal protection over your assets.

Trademark protection packages

You might be wondering, how much does it cost to trademark a name in the UK? Trademark protection doesn’t need to break the bank. We offer very competitive trademark legal advice and packages. Our trademark solicitors can recommend the most cost-effective way of achieving trademark registration and unlike most other firms, our fees are fixed, so you will always know how much you will pay upfront.

We’re firm believers that legal support, including trademark advice, should be easily accessible to all businesses. This includes making legal advice as affordable as possible. 

Find out more about our trademark protection packages that will help you establish and preserve your business’ name and identity.

Protect your brand today

Don't leave your brand's future to chance. Trust us, and our reliable trademark lawyers, to safeguard your business and its valuable assets. From identifying and registering your trademarks to providing comprehensive legal advice, our team of trade mark lawyers are here to support you on your entrepreneurial journey.

Book a free 15 minute consultation with one of our expert trademark solicitors today and take the first step towards securing your business's future success.

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Frequently asked questions

LawBite is the modern way for SMEs to get the high quality legal advice they need, but faster and cheaper.

As we look to revolutionise the traditional legal process, this may raise a number of questions on how we operate to provide your business with legal advice for your business that is; easier to access, clearer to understand and more affordable.

We have brought together the most frequently asked questions from our customers.

Any trademark application must include a list/statement of all goods and services in relation to which the trademark will be used. An internationally agreed system of 45 classes (known as the “Nice Classification”) has been created for this purpose, which groups together broadly similar categories of goods/services. For example, class 9 covers apps, class 30 covers coffee and class 39 covers car rental.

This depends on where you market and exploit the goods/services protected by your trademark(s). If the bulk of your customers are UK-based then the mark(s) should certainly be protected there. If a lot of your business is in other territories, then you may look to protect the marks in those jurisdictions as well or instead. It is possible to apply for EU-wide trademark applications at the EU Intellectual Property Office, as well as to expand trademark applications to international jurisdictions via WIPO’s Madrid Protocol system. Note that multiple trademark applications in multiple territories can get very expensive, so start-ups in particular often begin with UK protection and see how things go.

10 years, although in actual fact they can last forever since they can be renewed indefinitely (provided they are continually used). Considering the monopoly nature of the protection they give, this makes them an extremely valuable asset.

This depends on whether the mark is a registered mark or not. If it isn’t, you would have to rely on what is known as the common law action of ‘passing off’. This requires proof of reputation/goodwill, misrepresentation leading to confusion, and consequential damage. If the mark is registered, the claim would be trademark infringement and this is easier to establish. Often a firmly worded letter and subsequent negotiations suffice to reach an amicable resolution, without the need to resort to court.

Again, this is territory dependent. Please see our Trademark Protection Products for options and legal costs when it comes to protecting your brand. If you would like to discuss any of these in more detail, please get in touch and we would be happy to help!

The number of classes applicants should protect depends entirely on the goods/services being offered under the mark. Specialist advice from a trademark practitioner should always be sought to ensure there isn’t a mismatch between the protection granted by the trademark and the reality of what is being offered under it.

The proper symbol to use depends on whether your mark is registered or unregistered. The ® symbol designates a registered trademark and it is a criminal offence to use it if a mark is not registered. The ™ symbol, on the other hand, may be used to evidence rights in an unregistered mark.

The level of similarity will be assessed on a global basis, taking account of the aural, visual and conceptual similarity between the marks. A thorough conflict search against existing registered marks should also be carried out before making a trademark application, to avoid accidental adoption of somebody else’s mark and the risk of trademark infringement proceedings. Trademark lawyers are skilled in performing these and can also give an informed view on the likelihood of any risk posed by potentially confusingly similar marks, and suggestions as to how to mitigate the risk. These searches also illustrate why it is best to apply for trademarks before launching a brand, as it helps avoid the expense and reputational issues associated with costly rebranding if a mark is not clear to use.

This depends on the territory. By way of example, UK and EU marks typically take around 4 and 6 months respectively from application to registration (provided there are no oppositions during the process).

Sometime people assume that it is only words, brands, trade names, services names and product names and logos that are capable of trade mark protection. The reach of trade mark protection is actually far broader than this and can extend other less traditional trademarks. These are some of the features that can be registered as trademarks: 

• Designs, letters and numbers 
• Slogans 
• Symbols and images 
• The shape of a product or its packaging 
• Colours 
• Sounds 
• Smells 
• Gestures 
• Holograms 
• Multimedia marks 

Provided the representation of the mark is sufficiently clear, precise, self-contained, easily accessible, intelligible, durable and objective, in principle it can be the subject of an application.
The above doesn’t necessarily mean that anything that fits into those categories can be protected. Trademarks which fall into any of the following categories will not be registrable under trademark law: 

• Marks which are devoid of any distinctive character 
• Marks which describe any characteristic of the goods or services (e.g. their kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value or geographical origin) 
• Generic names such as marks which have become customary or generic in the relevant trade, e.g. cellotape 
• Marks which consist of shapes or another characteristic which result from the nature of the goods, are necessary to obtain a technical result, or which give substantial value to the goods
• Marks which are contrary to public policy or to accepted principles of morality (e.g. swear words), are deceptive, or which constitute specially protected emblems (e.g. the Royal arms)
• Marks involving applications made in bad faith (e.g. if the intention is to stop somebody else using the mark, rather than actually using it yourself)
• Marks in which a third party already has rights in the same field (e.g. an existing trademark)

Invented or arbitrary words, ideally which bear no relation to the product/service itself make the best trademarks. However, non-distinctive marks may still succeed if the mark has in fact acquired distinctive character as a result of the use made of it.

A trademark is a type of intellectual property, often a logo or name, that a business uses to differentiate its goods or services from those of all other businesses. It’s a badge of origin (or trade) that tells the consumer “this is my product”.

If you have a registered trademark it will add significant value to your intellectual property portfolio and thus to your business. It will also make sure that other businesses cannot trade using your name or reputation.

To register a trademark, you apply to the Intellectual Property Office, supplying details of your proposed mark at http://www.gov.uk/register-a-trademark.

You need to state the goods or services for which the mark is to be used. The registration applies only to the classes you request. The IPO uses the NICE Classification system, which separates goods into 34 categories and provides 11 classes of services to choose from.

After you file your application, the IPO examines it to check that the registration requirements have been met, including conducting a comparison of the mark with other registered marks. Within 20 days of receipt of the application, the IPO sends you a report giving a two-week period in which to address any issues raised in the report.

If the examiner is satisfied with the application in its current form or following any required amends, your application is published in the Trade Marks Journal, where everybody can read all about it for a further two months.

In absence of opposition, or if any opposition is withdrawn or proved unsuccessful, the trademark is registered and you receive a certificate of registration. The whole process can take only a few months from start to finish – voila!

They essentially give the trademark owner the right to prevent rival businesses from using the same trademark in that territory (or a confusingly similar mark) when trading in identical or similar goods or services. This helps to avoid brand dilution and prevent other people from ‘riding on your coattails’. Trademarks add huge value to a business and will be something investors, franchisees and purchasers look for as part of their due diligence. By way of example, the trademark valuation of Google and Apple is said to be roughly $44.3 billion and $42.8 billion respectively. Not bad for an intangible asset!

Strictly speaking, no. It is possible to build up unregistered rights in signs used in commerce. However, registration of marks serves as important evidence of the trademark owner’s exclusive rights and makes infringement much easier to prove. In short, those with registered trademarks have far greater legal protection than those without and registering a business name is not the same thing as registering a trademark.

To register a trademark, you apply to the IPO, supplying details of your proposed mark at http://www.gov.uk/register-a-trademark. 

You need to state the goods or services for which the mark is to be used. The registration applies only to the classes your request. The IPO uses the NICE Classification system, which separates goods into 34 categories and provides 11 classes of services to choose from. After you file your application, the IPO examines it to check that the registration requirements have been met, including conducting a comparison of the mark with other registered marks. Within 20 days of receipt of the application, the IPO sends you a report of two months in which to address any issues raised in the report. 

If the examiner is satisfied with the application in its current form or following any required amends, your application is published in the Trade Marks Journal , where everybody can read all about it for a further two months. 

In absence of opposition, or if any opposition is withdrawn or proved unsuccessful, the trademark is registered and you receive a certificate of registration. The whole process can take only a few months from start to finish – voila!

How can LawBite help?

Our LawBriefs can provide expert guidance and reassurance, whether you are bringing or defending a legal claim, or resolving a dispute using Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods like Mediation and Arbitration.

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