Every person or object needs a name for the purpose of identification. A product or a service is no different. Ask a Cola drinker which brand he prefers, and the response is likely to be either ‘Coke’ or ‘Pepsi’.  In the market for the Cola beverage, these are the two most distinctive names with the […]

Lets go back to the Cola example.Perhaps you stop reading for a while and asked someone which brand of Cola they preferred.  We are still sure that their answer was either Coke or Pepsi. Why not any other names, like Ezy  Cola, for example? This brings us to the issue of why, and how, a […]

While there will never be a hundred percent guarantee as to which mark will work best, following some basic guidelines in selecting a trademark will be helpful.  As a general rule, avoid terms that are descriptive of your product or service e.g. ‘Superior Mix’ for a pancake or pastry mix, or ‘Beautiful’ for a cosmetics range. Other […]

Once you have selected a trademark, protect it from infringement and safeguard your rights as the owner by getting it registered. Trademark registration is territorial by nature.  This means that your rights to your trademark are only protected in the country in which it has been registered. Some owners approach the Intellectual Property Office in […]

It is important that you monitor and keep an eye on other industry players from time to time.  This way, you would know if any of your competitors are using trademarks similar to yours.  Usually, this trademark monitoring and policing activities are carried out by the sales and marketing teams as they are the ones […]

A trademark registration is meant to be valid indefinitely; however this validity has to be maintained through proper use of the trademark. How can the exclusive rights to a trademark be lost?  We will discuss the three most common ways in which trademark rights are lost: Abandonment You lose them if you intentionally ‘abandon’ your trademark – […]

Have you ever considered protecting your Chinese trademark whenever you export your goods into Chinese market? Or did you think that having a Western trademark registration is sufficient? As the Chinese language is fundamentally different from Latin, businesses planning to tackle the Chinese market must have a Chinese version of their trademarksespecially when the goods are […]

We are not suggesting that having a unique and attention-grabbing trademark should override the importance of quality and pricing. However, the fact remains that after a savvy business owner has given his all to ensure superior quality and reasonable pricing, what’s left to be done is to ensure that his Trademark stays on top of […]

Do you know that ‘Escalator’ was a trademark once upon a time? Not many can recall or are even aware that it was a trademark that was owned by Otis Elevator Company. But in 1950, the owner lost its case and lost its proprietary right to own ‘Escalator’ as a trade mark because it was […]