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April 2008 e-EntertainmentLawArticle No Such Thing As An International Trademark With the creation of the worldwide web and the easy exchange of information internationally, many business owners are concerned with protecting their intellectual property on a global level. Specific concerns involve the importance of protecting their business name, phrase and logo in the U.S., as well as foreign countries. Even though there is no such thing as an international trademark that will automatically provide a business with intellectual property protection throughout the world, many business owners still mistakenly believe international trademark protection exists. Trademarks A trademark is a word, phrase or logo that distinguishes a business owners' product from goods or services developed by other businesses. Usually, business owners file trademarks to protect their business name and logo from being used by another business in the same line of business. Benefits of Filing a Basic Federal Trademark There are a myriad of reasons to file a trademark and although the following list is not exhaustive it provides some of the more compelling reasons to do so: 1) trademarks provide national protection for you to prevent anyone from using or registering a similar trademark, 2) trademarks are "intangible" assets that build the value of your company, 3) should you decide to sell your company a trademark will add to the value of your company, 4) trademarks provide web address protection if someone tries to register a web address that is "confusingly similar" to your trademark. In particular, it gives you grounds to shut down the infringing website. This is extremely important because if your potential customers are confused about the names, this may direct traffic away from your website; and 5) without a trademark you will not be provided internet advertising protection. For example, if your company is named "ItsyBitsyDelitsy" a child clothing store, without a trademark, other companies, your competitors, can use your name "ItsyBitsyDelitsy" in their advertising to drive your traffic to their website. A trademark provides you the legal basis to prevent other businesses from using your name and taking your potential customers. Federal Registration Does Not Provide International Protection Federal trademark registration does not extend beyond the U.S. borders. However, based on provisions of various treaties, a U.S. federal registration (or application to register) can be used as the basis for filing under a system called the "Madrid Protocol" to register your trademark in foreign countries. The Madrid Protocol The Madrid Protocol is a system whereby a trademark owner in one of the signing countries can protect a trademark (i.e. a business name, catchy phrase and logo) in those countries that have signed the Madrid Protocol. As of April 28, 2008 there are seventy-six countries that have signed the Madrid Protocol. The owner of the trademark files one Madrid Protocol application based on a national application (i.e. your U.S. federal application) and then designates those countries in which the application is to be effective. The application is filed in one receiving office in one language without the need to separately file in each country. The Madrid Protocol filing fees and procedures are too complicated to address in this article. However should you be interested in trademark protection in the U.S. and in other countries please contact The Law Offices of Akua Boyenne for further information. [ back to top ] |