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A Trade Mark Lawyer lends valuable advice to protect your business’s Intellectual Property.
Here’s the thing – you can sip a cup of coffee during your lunch break and think of a great brand. But you can’t protect or register a trade mark as easily as that. To register a trade mark it takes planning and a strategy about what you are to protect under the trade mark. You need to understand the process.
As a business owner, if you think you aren’t the best with legal know-how and haven’t filed a trade mark before, we’d strongly suggest hiring a lawyer who specialises in trade mark protection.
Here are seven reasons why your business should rely on the services of a trademark lawyer.
They Can Help With Trade Mark Research
It is crucial that your business’s trade mark resonates with its brand voice and identifies you and you only. Your trade mark lawyer can conduct “clearance to use searches” and give you a report which details all the other traders that might be using that brand for your desired goods and services.
You can also discuss your pricing concerns with the lawyer during the counselling sessions.
They Can Help You Resolve Trade Mark Conflicts
When registering a trade mark, your slogan may match with some other party, leading to a conflict. Your lawyer will help you resolve such conflicts by filing a statement of goods and services that avoids the other trade mark.
In case of trade mark infringement, a representative such as Leo Fraser, trademark lawyer can argue why your trade mark does not infringe the rights of others.
They Can Talk To The Trade Mark Office
So can you, but there’s a difference.
The trade mark examining authorities (such as IP Australia or the USPTO) are used to discussing legal concepts with people applying to register trade marks. If you do not understand the legal concepts behind the registration it can be difficult to correspond with the trade mark offices on a level they understand. Yes, you can do it alone, but here’s what can go wrong:
- You can make statements that can harm your case. You might make admissions that would convince the trade mark office that your trade mark should not be accepted for registration.
- You might make points that do not have any legal basis and thus your point is not understood.
- You might not know that the trade mark office objections are easily overcome if you amend the goods or services of your application.
- You might not know the statements to make that will convince the trade mark office to find in your favour.
A good trademark lawyer (like those from Cohn Legal), will ensure that the process is streamlined and will represent you in the best possible way. They will help you cut any additional costs in the process. They know how to discuss trade mark matters with the trade mark office because that’s what they do for a living.
They Can Help You Enforce Your Trade Mark
Your trademark lawyer can help you resolve conflicts and help you enforce your trade mark. A trade mark lawyer can help with co-existance agreements (where parties agree to exist together in the marketplace), enforcing a trade mark, or defending an infringement action.
Easy Navigation
A lawyer will help you navigate the trade mark registration process to achieve the broadest possible registration whilst not causing a clash with other trade marks. They can look at your business from an objective point of view and advise you accordingly.
Their legal perspective can help ensure that the new trade mark you register will protect you in the years to come.
They Can Help Increase Your Business’s Authenticity
A trade mark can increase your firm’s authenticity- online and offline. Authenticity leads to trust in your clients and customers. This translates to more sales and higher profit margins for your firm. Registration can also increase the value of your business for any future sale of the business.
Having a trademark lawyer protect your interests will enable you to avoid costly mistakes and help your brand set itself apart from the rest.
They Can Teach You The Process
Whilst it is possible to file a trade mark yourself it is not advisable as is easy to file a trade mark for the wrong goods or services or in the wrong name or in the wrong format. That could mean that your trade mark is invalid and not enforceable.
The lawyer will let you understand the nuances of legal terms and conversations with the trade mark office while getting comfortable with the entire process and ensuring you are protected.
Final Word
Filing a trade mark application requires thorough knowledge of the process and the law. Hiring trademark lawyers can make life easy for you.
You may also like: Thinking of Starting a Business? A Corporate Lawyer Will be a Valuable Asset!
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