If you or your business operate a website, you should get a US
trademark, unless the website uses a ccTLD other than the .us TLD. There are
many benefits to getting a US trademark. A US trademark seems to be the most
popular jurisdiction for trademarks.
Trademark Use In USA
If you operate a blog with Amazon or CJ or other US-based
affiliate ads or even Google Adsense, you may base your application based on
actual use in commerce in the USA by claiming “Online advertising and
promotional services” as your service.
If you operate a website that sells goods directly or by drop
shipping, you should be able to claim services such as an “On-line retail store
services featuring … (describe your goods.)”
Make sure that you use your trademark within view of your ads
when creating your website, otherwise, the USPTO may reject your trademark specimen. USPTO trademark
applications are usually examined within 4 months and you can get a
registration within 8 months.
Getting a US-based trademark is generally preferred for
protecting domain names with the .com, .net, .org, and .us TLDs from UDRP or Cybersquatting Complaints.
In what other Countries Should I Register my Trademark?
· where it does business,
· where it will be offering its goods and services,
· where it manufactures its goods, and
· where you plan on licensing your company’s trademark.
Some jurisdictions don’t need use before registration, such as
the UK and the EU, and China. Other countries allow for registration based on
use and registration abroad, such as the USA and Canada. In any case, trademarks
are vulnerable to cancellation after the third anniversary of their
registration in most countries if you can’t prove “use of the trademark” within
the previous 3 years.
The UK examines and usually approves trademarks within 3 months
of filing your application.
The EU examines and usually approves trademarks within 6 months
of filing your application.
Canada’s trademark office, CIPO, has typically been taking 12 to
14 months to examine trademark applications filed since 2016.
Oppositions cause uncertainty and can get expensive. Any
interested person may oppose a trademark application after a trademarks office
has approved it and published it for “opposition” in its Trademarks Journal. If
there’s no opposition, most countries will send you a Notice of Allowance.
Some countries require a registration fee. The USPTO requires a
Statement of Use fee.
In any case, it is wise to file your trademark applications as
soon as you adopt and clear a trademark. If you are planning on growing your
business quickly or launching a product before getting a Notice of Allowance,
it is important to do a full trademark search to clear
your trademark choice. Otherwise, you may face a trademark infringement lawsuit
soon after your sales start growing or your website gets traffic.
If you think that you have a very valuable domain, trademark the
domain either in the US or in the country that you list in your address as the
registrant of the domain name.
Global Trademarks
There’s no such thing as a Global trademark. The Madrid
Protocol, however, allows you to file one application in many countries
using WIPO’s Madrid System. Trademarks
How can I protect my trademark?
Trademarks are registered at the national and regional levels.
For example, there are trademark offices in each country in the EU and there's
an EUIPO trademark office https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimport....
So you can have a trademark registered in Italy, Spain, Croatia,
and Romania, as well as in the EU.
Trademark law, treaties and documents
The treaties WIPO administers, together with national and
regional laws, make up the international legal framework for trademarks.
Trademark-related treaties administered by WIPO
The Paris Convention is an international treaty that allows
applicants to file a first application in their home country. That application
is referred to as a priority document or filing, and the date it is filed is
called the priority date.
→ The Paris Convention gives you a 6-month window to file additional trademarkapplications in various countries after you file a trademark application in your home country and still claim your priority date.
→ The Paris Convention gives you a 6-month window to file additional trademarkapplications in various countries after you file a trademark application in your home country and still claim your priority date.
Nationals of any of the Madrid contracting countries may, in all
the other countries party to this Agreement, secure protection for their marks
applicable to goods or services, registered in the country of origin, by filing
the said marks at the International Bureau of Intellectual Property
(hereinafter designated as "the International Bureau") referred to in
the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization
(hereinafter designated as "the Organization"), through the
intermediary of the Office of the said country of origin.
The Madrid system comprises two treaties; the Madrid Agreement
Concerning the International Registration of Marks, which was concluded in
1891, and entered into force in 1892, and the Protocol Relating to the Madrid
Agreement, which came into operation on 1 April 1996.
The Nice Agreement established a classification of goods and
services for the purposes of registering trademarks and service marks (the Nice
Classification), in classes numbered 1 to 45.
The Vienna Agreement, concluded in Vienna in 1973 and amended in
1985, establishes a classification (the Vienna Classification) for marks that
consist of, or contain, figurative elements, in classes 1 to 29 and up to four
sub-levels.
A modern and dynamic international framework for the
harmonization of administrative trademark registration procedures.
The Trademark Law
Treaty (TLT) standardized and streamlined national and regional trademark
registration procedures by simplifying and harmonizing those procedures to make
trademark applications and the administration of trademark registrations in multiple
jurisdictions less complex and more predictable. The procedures are divided
into three main phases:
1. application for registration;
2. changes after registration; and
3. renewal.
The rules concerning each phase are constructed so as to clearly define the requirements for an application or a specific request.
1. application for registration;
2. changes after registration; and
3. renewal.
The rules concerning each phase are constructed so as to clearly define the requirements for an application or a specific request.
All States party to the Nairobi Treaty are under the obligation
to protect the Olympic symbol – five interlaced rings – against use for
commercial purposes (in advertisements, on goods, as a mark, etc.) without the
authorization of the International Olympic Committee.
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