Trade marks are often one of the most valuable assets of a business and therefore the protection of a business' mark should be integral to the brand development.

There are three tiers of protection available to businesses domiciled or trading in the UK and the level required will depend on the particular business.

UK Trade Mark

If the majority of your business is restricted to the UK market then a registration at the UK Intellectual Property Office ("IPO") might be sufficient to protect your mark.

Similarly, if you have started a new business you may wish to 'test the water' and initially file a UK application. Once you are more confident in the sustainability of your brand then you could proceed with European or International protection.

Community Trade Mark

If your business provides goods or services to countries within the European Union then you may want to consider filing a Community Trade Mark ("CTM") application with Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market ("OHIM"). The benefit of filing a CTM application is that one application to OHIM could protect your mark in all 27 member states of the European Union.

International Trade Mark

It is possible to extend your UK or European protection to cover countries outside the European Union. The Madrid system for the international registration of marks allows a business to protect its mark in several countries including Australia, China, United States of America and Singapore by filing a simple application with the Worldwide Intellectual Property Office via OHIM or IPO.

If you or your company have a brand, logo or catchphrase which you wish to protect either by way of registration or to stop someone using your mark or logo then please do not hesitate to contact Shereen Elkins on 01277 268343 or selkins@wortleybyers.co.uk.

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