Why register a trademark?

Registering a trademark protects your business name, logo, or slogan from being copied or claimed by someone else, gives you the legal right to stop unauthorized use, and lets you license, franchise, or sell your brand as an asset.

Have you decided to open your own business? Did you follow all the rules and register the company with the tax office? Then why could you still face a large fine that pushes a young company into debt? Many business owners end up in this situation because they thought they did not need to register their trademark, or simply overlooked it. For example, the name of your company may match the name of a brand from another city, and you may have to pay for it. Below we explain how to avoid these problems and register a trademark.

First, the definition. A trademark is an individual designation of your company that helps the public distinguish it from competitors (as defined by law). It can include anything that helps consumers recognize you: a brand melody, a name, a logo or a slogan. These identifiers should be registered so that no one but you can use them in business.

What are the guarantees of trademark registration?

First of all, registration gives you security and confidence that your investments are preserved. As the owner of a trademark, you can invest heavily in promoting your brand: building awareness among buyers, PR on social networks, search engine promotion, printed advertising banners and rented billboards. You can promote the company without the risk of losing it. 

Without registration, things are less simple, and the risk is not only that another company with your name appears and registers it. Trademark squatters (often called “patent trolls”) deliberately look for unregistered companies and register their trademarks, then demand money from the real owners for using the mark.

There are also interesting cases where a registered trademark does not help to recover a fine from a company with an identical name. For example, take an individual entrepreneur who registered a name identical to that of a foreign company which has operated legally for a long time but has not registered its trademark in our country. 

The entrepreneur may go to court to collect a fine from the foreign company for using its own mark. However, the company can challenge the court decision and avoid the fine. Why? The entrepreneur registered the mark not to identify their own products, but to make a claim and collect money as a fine.

Benefits of registering a trademark

Registering a trademark gives you these benefits:

• as company and brand recognition grow, profits grow;
• you can grant the right to use the mark under a license and receive royalties;
• you can offer a franchise;
• you can file lawsuits against infringers and receive compensation from them, and, as practice shows, infringers will appear;
• you can cooperate with well-known retail chains, for example Auchan, Lamoda and others;
• you can turn the brand into an intangible asset of the company, which increases its value.

What is required to register a trademark?

The legal requirements for registering intellectual property are set out clearly in the legislation. Registered marks are entered in the intellectual property register, where you can check whether a mark in your niche is free or already taken. 

The International Classification of Goods and Services has 45 classes. You must choose the class in which to register your mark according to your activity. If you make shoes and register the name “Free street” in class 25 (clothing, footwear and headgear), no other clothing or shoe manufacturer can take this name. But companies that, for example, make musical instruments or provide photo services can register the identical name “Free street” in their own classes.

Well-known brands are treated differently: they can register a name that no one else can take, even in a different class. A company that is recognizable and popular in society can apply to have its trademark recognized as well-known. After the authority that checks and confirms recognition approves it, your mark becomes officially well-known, and no one else can register the name in any class.