Thursday 31 December 2009

Getting Started With Intellectual Property (IP) Registration

By Jonathan Powers

We may think that recording intellectual property (IP) ownership rights are fairly recent occurrence it is not. Even the Romans stamped bricks to show their sign of ownership. Trademark law is quite ancient dating back to the year 1266 in England. The old law known as the "bakers marking law" used to show the maker of a loaf of bread. Each baker would have their own registered mark.

Trademark law is now well established worldwide. Almost every single established company now has their own mark that uniquely defines their brand. Most people think that you have to legally register a mark to be able to use it but the opposite is true. You register a mark so that others cannot use it! When you register a trademark you gain the unique right to be the only one to use the mark or to control who can use it.

A trademark is a unique mark that allows clients to distinguish you without seeing your product or service. It is a unique part of your brand. Trials have shown that you can show just part of a well-known trademark and people know which brand it belongs to. This indicates the power of a good image and how the brain works at remembering such things. This is why it is key to legally protect important marks and words.

You do not need to legally register a mark to own it and stop others using it but like most things in the arena of law - the one who holds the papers first wins! Registration legally defines the date of ownership beyond any sense of doubt. In some countries common law gives some trade protection but at the end of the day you have more protection if you hire trademark lawyers to protect key IP.

These days you can self-register a trademark but there are underlying hazards of doing this of course. Trademark attorneys of course know how to register and how to protect possession if the rights are abused. They know the full story of registration and protection. If you self-register you may get a cheap registration but you may have left a loop-hole for somebody to misuse your rights later on.

Registration of trademarks can be done in one or more countries. Currently there is no such thing as a global trademark. You have to register in all the nations where you want protection.

Registration has become easier over the recent years with the introduction of systems like the Madrid System of International Registration of Marks through the World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva, Switzerland but international registration is still a boring and fairly high-priced process.

Of course the benefits of registering a trademark outweigh the costs and challenges. If you are serious about your business you should be looking into at IP registration today.

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