Protecting your Brand's Integrity with a Trademark

 In the present fast-paced society and highly competitive environment, establishing a strong brand is pivotal to the success of every other business. Furthermore, protecting that brand deserves your utmost attention too. Yet, a lot of small scale businesses and startups nowadays overlook a crucial step in securing their brand - Trademark Registration.

What can be trademarked?

A trademark is a form of Intellectual Property (IP), which may be any unique name, word, symbol, or device used to identify and further distinguish the goods of one seller from those of others, for instance - Nike's Swoosh (logo). Besides, a trademark allows the seller to safeguard what's trademarked efficiently from both use and misuse by competitors while establishing brand loyalty among the customers. Trademarks also prevent confusion among the customers, who usually come to associate distinct attributes, to be specific quality, with a unique brand.

From a branding perspective, you can protect several assets, including names, taglines, logos, and packaging. However, it is imperative to make a point of the fact that these assets can obtain Trademark Protection only if they meet the subject matter eligibility. A phrase or word that's commonly used or already connected with another service or product in the same industry can't be trademarked. Let's consider an example to understand it. A generic term like "search engine" can't obtain trademark protection; however, a unique name like "Google" can. On the other hand, if your name is generic but used in the industry that's typically not related to the meaning of the term, then you may be able to trademark it, for instance - Apple (tech giant).

As a general rule, you can go ahead with trademarking your business name, if in case you use it while advertising to your target audience directly. If you are not making use of your business name in direct communication with your customers, then you can't obtain trademark protection for it as you are not connecting your name to your brand and also its attributes. Without any second thoughts, if your business name will be a critical part of your overall marketing strategy, then you must consider trademarking it. Additionally, the logo and tagline of your brand can also prove to be exceedingly good candidates for seeking trademark protection. The first litmus test corresponds to whether they are unique or not. The aspects that make a logo unique are the combination of the symbol with the company or brand name, their spatial relationship, and the colors. If the brand's tag line is a unique phrase, then you can consider trademarking it as well. For instance, Apple's "Think Different" connects its brand attribute, that is, quality, to its products.

The Trademark Registration Process

It is not necessarily expensive to obtain trademark protection. In the US, whoever establishes priority in a proposed mark is generally considered as its owner. To keep it straightforward, if you are the first company or individual using a unique mark for identifying your services or products, you don't need to register it for gaining the corresponding Trademark Rights. However, you must add the TM symbol to the brand to which you are claiming rights. Still, it is not a substitute for registering a proposed mark through the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which indeed establishes ownership to a great extent and beyond a doubt.

It is crucial to keep in mind that everything depends highly on the uniqueness of your proposed mark. In today's digital era, the Internet is undoubtedly a brilliant platform for starting your Trademark Search. You can proactively visit the free websites, like the ones maintained by the USPTO, to make yourself familiar with the already existing trademarks. Besides, you can also consider hiring an attorney specializing in the Trademark Law for conducting detailed searches.

In the US, a trademark can be registered at the federal or state level. State-level trademark registrations are expensive and less potent than the federal trademark registrations. Quite often, a trademark is registered within one industry; however, it may be registered in more than one as well. The best option, without any doubt, depends on the scope of your business and its geographic area of operation. International trademark protection is much more costly, extremely complicated, and expensive to enforce.

If you go ahead with filing a Trademark Application with the USPTO, then it will make sure that no other trademark similar to yours exists. The trademark registration process can take months. Therefore, it is highly advisable to do your homework well, because if your proposed mark resembles an already existing trademark, then your trademark application will face rejection.

It is a matter of fact that yes - the more you try to differentiate your brand from others in the industry, the more convenient it will be for you to safeguard it in the best possible manner. So, pick a name or logo that identifies your brand uniquely and protects it from your competitors.

Ref: https://www.kashishworld.com/blog/protecting-your-brands-integrity-with-a-trademark/

An Overview of Trademark Registration and Protection in Nigeria

 Nigeria, a sovereign country located on the western coast of Africa, is the most populous nation with the largest economy in the continent. It also has a fast-growing services sector with a rapidly increasing need for consumer goods. Without any second thoughts, all these factors do make Trademark Registration a crucial aspect in the nation.

GENERAL INFORMATION

In Nigeria, the Trade Marks Act, Cap T 13, the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 ("TMA"), and the Trademark Regulations 1990, form the legal basis of trademark registration and protection. The Act defines a trademark that is capable of identifying and distinguishing the source of the goods of one company or individual from those of others. A trademark may include a label, name, brand, device, heading, letter, word, signature, numeral, or any combination of these elements. When it comes to trademark registration, the Nigerian Trademark Law classifies goods into thirty-four (34) international classes. In Nigeria, multi-class Trademark Applications are not allowed; therefore, a separate application needs to be filed for registration in each of these classes. Also, unlike other jurisdictions, 'USE' is not a requirement for the registration of trademarks in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, the Trademarks, Patents, and Designs Registry (under the Commercial Law Department of the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment) is the concerned trademark authority that governs and deals with the mechanism of trademark registration. The trademark application must be filed by the proprietor or an agent with the exception in the scenario of a foreign proprietor where a local agent must be hired. Except for the bureaucratic delays at the Registry, the time frame to complete the registration procedure is usually 12 to 18 months.

Trademark registration in Nigeria gives an owner the exclusive rights to the registered trademark corresponding to the specific goods or classes of goods in which it was originally registered. If a person or company uses the same trademark or any other mark similar or identical to it, which is likely to deceive or confuse the public, then it becomes a case of Trademark Infringement.

TRADEMARK REGISTRATION PROCEDURE IN NIGERIA

1. TRADEMARK SEARCH - Before filing the trademark application, it is highly advisable to perform adequate trademark searches and determine the availability of the proposed trademark.
2. REQUIREMENTS - The following documents and details are required to go ahead with trademark registration in Nigeria:
   • Details of the applicant or proprietor, including name, nationality
   • Well-defined representation of the proposed trademark
   • Class and specification of goods or services for which the proposed trademark is to be registered
   • Power of Attorney (POA) duly signed by the applicant, and where the applicant is a body corporate, by an officer who is authorized to do the same. Note - No legislation or notarization of this document is required.

3. TRADEMARK APPLICATION FILING - Once all the details in the trademark application have been filled and the same is submitted along with the required documents, the Registrar shall issue an Acknowledgement Form, which confirms the receipt of the trademark application by the Registry. Also, a temporary number is allocated to the pending trademark registration.
4. EXAMINATION - The Registrar then examines the proposed trademark to ensure that there is no already existing conflicting trademark, which may preclude its registration. The examination process shall also extend to whether the mark is deceptive, distinctive, or scandalous in any way or not. The proposed trademark must not contain prohibited words, names of single chemical substances, national flag, Arms of Nigeria or state, names of cities, towns, places, and societies, names of living persons or persons recently dead (except with permission).

If the Registrar gets satisfied with the proposed trademark, he or she shall issue an Acceptance Form, which is generally issued within three (03) weeks after the issuance of the Acknowledgment Form. In the other scenario, a Refusal Form will be issued. In the case of acceptance, the application will be published in the Trademarks Journal to notify any interested party that may have an objection to the said trademark registration.

5. OPPOSITION - Any interested party may initiate the opposition proceedings by giving a notice of opposition within two (02) months of the publication of the proposed trademark in the Trademarks Journal. It is imperative to make a point of the fact that this period is non-extendible. The hearing of the opposition takes place before the Registrar, who shall take the decision after listening to both the parties and considering all the evidence in the matter. Additionally, the decision of the Registrar in this matter may be appealed to the Federal High Court.
6. REGISTRATION - If no opposition proceedings are initiated against the proposed trademark or the oppositions are resolved well in favor of the applicant - the Registrar shall issue the Certificate of Registration to the applicant.

TRADEMARK PROTECTION AND RENEWAL TERM IN NIGERIA

In Nigeria, trademarks are registered for an initial period of seven (07) years starting from the date of the application, which can be further renewed indefinitely for periods of fourteen (14) years.

Ref: https://www.kashishworld.com/blog/an-overview-of-trademark-registration-and-protection-in-nigeria/

What Impact Does a Patent Race have on Innovation?

 When we talk about patents, timing undoubtedly matters. In case two inventors are working on the same invention, then the one who reaches the Patent Office first holds the upper hand. The best example of a patent race is - Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell filing the Patent Application for the telephone on the same day. Bell received the patent, started a successful company, and is now synonymous with the telephone; on the other hand, only a few people remember Gray. For quite a while now, economists have been using patent races as a classic example of how firms innovate in a highly competitive environment. Let us now gain more valuable insight into the role of a patent race in the real world.

Winning the Patent Race

It is a matter of fact that yes - a patent office keeps the patent applications secret for sometime after they are filed. The same implies that two companies or firms may end up filing a patent application for the same innovation while not realizing that the other also filed. As per various reports and surveys conducted, a patent race has a significant impact on innovation both in terms of magnitude and direction. Winners, in this aspect, do 14% more follow-on innovation, and losers, in contrast, are near about three times as likely to abandon their innovation. The ones that keep going have to invent around and find some other technical paths to overcome or avoid the patent coverage of the winner.

If we consider the importance of winning a patent race, it won't be surprising to learn that firms in highly contested technology areas (where a patent race is frequent) do more R&D and file many patent applications. Furthermore, they usually patent in smaller steps instead of waiting until bigger milestones are achieved.

Who all are running in the Patent Race?

The patent racing behavior is surprisingly frequent - with somewhere around 10-11% of all the patents becoming a part of the race. In a few technology areas, a patent race occurs even more frequently; for instance, 13% of the patents in communications are in a patent race and 16% in computing, while, in comparison, only 5% of the patents in biotechnology are there in a patent race. There are various reasons, which explain the frequency of patent racing in these areas. In general, the patents in communications and computing are considered weaker, in contrast to the ones in biotechnology. Moreover, companies in fields like biotechnology avoid entering a patent race by either collaborating with the competitors or researching the already existing areas to minimize the risk of paying for expensive medical trials. To be specific, they don't wish to end up without patent coverage.

Bottom Line

All the points mentioned above prove that a patent race is indeed prevalent in the real world and is crucial for innovation. Without any second thoughts, winning a patent race protects the innovators, which, in turn, enables them to take their research agenda to the next level. On the other hand, a patent race deflects the losers, causing them to do less follow-on work and having to 'invent around' the winners.

Ref: https://www.kashishworld.com/blog/what-impact-does-a-patent-race-have-on-innovation/