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?
Your business
should register its trademark in every country:
· 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 trademark applications 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 trademark applications 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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