Trademarks are handy for a business to have to ensure that your intellectual property will be protected. If you are planning to expand your business, your local trademark will not be enough to protect your brand if you expand internationally. At this point, you may be thinking about what you can do to protect your brand across international borders. This blog post will share vital information that will help you.
Getting a Registered Trademark Overseas: How To Do It
Getting your trademark registered in other countries may seem like a tedious and unnecessary step, but doing so will help potentially save you from a ton of headaches in the future. Proper trademarking will help you avoid having to rebrand your business because someone else beat you to trademarking your original ideas.
The Best Way to Register Your Trademark Overseas
There are two ways to get your brand trademarked in other countries. You can either apply for a trademark directly by making a local application or file a single application, usually referred to as a “Madrid Protocol” and simply nominate the countries you are interested in getting a trademark in.
There are a few considerations you may want to make before you decide. Here are the specifics to help you out.
1 – Local Applications
This type of trademark application may make sense, if you are only thinking about expanding your business territory to one or two new countries. Otherwise, this option will be a more time-consuming (and not to mention costly) route to choose. Remember that to file your trademark application, you will need to do so in each country respectively. If you need to amend anything about your trademark down the line, it pays to note that you will need to file it in each of the countries just like with your initial application. This is why this option would only make sense to trademarks for one or two countries at the most.
If you are thinking about filing for trademarks in multiple countries, this may be a time-consuming and expensive process and generally not a wise idea.
2 – Madrid Protocol
If you need to register your trademark in many different countries, filing a Madrid Protocol may be a better option to consider. Provided that the countries you are interested in are part of the Madrid Union, you will be able to file a single application and cite the countries you want to file a trademark in.
However, to be able to file a Madrid Protocol, you need to have an updated Australian trademark. Working with a lawyer that specialises in trademarks will be able to help you get the specifics right.
Conclusion
To summarize, there is no wrong way to get the trademark you need to protect the interests of your business. The key is knowing what kind of trademark you need and which one will benefit you the most. This way, you will not have to worry about other people stealing your ideas and using them to their advantage in other countries. On top of all your other efforts, working with a skilled property law firm will go a long way. These professionals will ensure that you miss no critical step to keep your trademark and brand protected.
Should you need assistance in trademarking your brand and getting appropriate brand protection in Australia, work with GLG Legal! We are an ambitious, innovative, commercial and property law practice based in Brisbane that provides its clients real world solutions, to meet their commercial and property needs. We differ from other law practices as we are driven by innovation, ideas and results, not by legal traditions and billable hours. We pride ourselves on providing the right solutions for our clients.
