Before even thinking of filing a trademark, you must make sure the chosen sign is available and free of legal risk. This preliminary step conditions the whole strategy that follows.
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After finding a suitable sign and checking its availability, the filing itself calls for an appropriate strategy. Several questions systematically arise:
These are questions that call for tailored answers, to avoid unnecessary expense while seeking a suitable level of protection.
Discover how a forced change of trademark can cost far more than a simple re-filing in our case study on the costs of rebranding.
Take the example of a clothing brand that wants to protect its sign. Its business is international and it constantly uses the sign in semi-figurative form.
In this particular case, a European then international filing is called for, in semi-figurative form to match the actual use of the sign as closely as possible. For the goods and services designated, a broad scope is advisable given the company's growth and the potential widening of its fields of activity.
This approach provides protection that is coherent both geographically and substantively, and avoids having to multiply complementary filings to fill gaps.
I can also help clients obtain European grants that reimburse up to 75% of filing fees, that is, up to 1,000 euros recovered on your trademark or design filing costs through the SME Fund.
The SME Fund is aimed at European small and medium-sized enterprises. If you are eligible, it is an opportunity not to be missed to reduce the cost of your protection strategy.
Every situation is unique. Contact me to build together a trademark strategy suited to your projects.
