What’s the best way to protect your brands?

By Sharon Givoni

Sharon Givoni is a branding and advertising lawyer and principal of Sharon Givoni Consulting. Contact Sharon.

For further articles by Sharon on IP and trade marks, visit http://www.sharongivoni.com.au/articles.html

As a branding lawyer, one question that a lot of people ask me is, ‘What is the best way I can protect my brand?’, particularly if they have a distinctive name or logo that they post on their website for the world to see.

The answer is that the strongest form of trade mark protection is to have your trade mark registered. And, if possible, it is best to use an IP lawyer or a trade mark attorney to ensure that you get it right.

When your business name & logo are legally protected, they'll be stamped with this.

There is a popular misconception, that if you have a registered business name (or company name) then that name is ‘protected’. Not so. Registered business names are merely administrative. The same applies for domain name registration. Actually, with a domain name all you really have is a license from another body (e.g. Melbourne IT) to use a name, but you never really own it outright).

Benefits of trade mark registration

The benefits of trade mark registration include:

• A registered trade mark is personal property. It can be assigned or licensed to others, for example, in return for payment to the owner of the registration.

• It allows the owner of the registration to prevent the unauthorised use of the trade mark in relation to the same, or similar or closely related, goods or services.

• It places the public on notice of the owner’s rights and provides a relatively quick and cheap method of enforcing those rights. Generally, what needs to be shown is that the trade mark which allegedly infringes the owner’s trade mark is “substantially identical” or “deceptively similar” and is used in respect of similar goods or services.

• Registration of a trade mark is Australia-wide.

• The application or registration of a trade mark will help to prevent other traders from obtaining registration for a subsequently filed trade mark which is identical or similar.

• Trade mark registrations can be perpetual as they can be renewed indefinitely.

• Registration entitles you to use the “®” symbol to put the public on notice of your trade mark rights.

It is worldwide?

No. Australia-wide only, as trade mark registration needs to be granted on a country by country basis. However it does generally cover all states in Australia.

This is a complex area of the law and it is recommended that you therefore seek the advice of a lawyer or trade mark attorney.

Disclaimer - This article is a summary only of the topics covered and must not be relied on as a substitute for professional legal advice specific to your circumstances. It was written in Janurary2004.

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