Trademark Form: How You Can Protect Your Brand

Anyone involved in product development or founding a company inevitably encounters the topic of trademark protection. To ensure that your product idea isn't used by others, company names, products, and brands should be protected.

A trademark registration with the relevant patent and trademark office provides protection for your product or company. Trademark forms can be completed for protection within Germany, the European Union, and internationally. However, for a trademark registration, absolute and relative barriers must be met.

Discover what a "trademark" entails, when it can be registered, and how the registration process works here.

What is a trademark and what are the barriers to protection?

What is a trademark and when is it eligible for protection? This question arises particularly when formulating a company name, registering an internet domain, or designing a company logo. In short: A trademark represents the name of a product. Products can be goods or services, including clothing, home electronics, or a business operation.

Trademark protection is only activated once a trademark is officially registered through an application. Words, letters, numbers, images, colors, and sound marks are permissible for trademark applications. Possible product markings include:

• Word marks: for example, "After Eight"

• Figurative marks: for example, Audi's rings

• Word and figurative marks: for example, Coca-Cola's logo

• 3D marks: such as unique packaging like Toblerone

• Sound marks: such as radio jingles

• Color marks: like Telekom's magenta

It is important to note that not all symbols can be protected as a trademark. For example, symbols that merely describe goods and services cannot be protected. The protective effect is activated by registering the trademark in the trademark register. Basically, trademark protection can also be achieved through the use of the trademark in business transactions without registration. However, the requirements here are very high and difficult to prove. Therefore, to be on the safe side, it is best to properly register your trademark in the trademark register.

Nevertheless, even with official registration, certain barriers must be observed. Both absolute and relative barriers should be considered. Absolute barriers deal with the general eligibility of a trademark, while relative barriers consider existing trademarks and marks, checking if current registrations hinder the registration of a new trademark in any way.

Absolute barriers:

• Examination of trademark eligibility

• Examination of distinguishing the trademark, service, and products from other companies

• Examination of goods, services, and trademark form

• Examination for misleading designations

• Examination of violation against public order, moral standards, sovereign marks, and official test marks

• Examination if the trademark to be registered is filed in bad faith

To better understand absolute barriers, here's an example: The word trademark "Apple" cannot be protected by a fruit vendor for his goods and services because it is merely descriptive and thus a term to be kept free. However, for the computer and software manufacturer, the situation is entirely different, which is why the relevant trademark registration is permitted here.

Conversely, it is different with descriptive adjectives like "super," "great," and "classy." These terms are always purely descriptive and not eligible for protection, regardless of the goods or services to be registered. But there are exceptions - if such a word is integrated into a graphic representation, this can meet the absolute barriers as a word and figurative mark. So, if a pure word mark fails to be registered, it is worth considering creating a corresponding word and figurative mark.

On the other hand, relative barriers must be considered. Here, it is checked whether the trademark to be registered might infringe on third-party rights. It is crucial to know that the German Patent and Trademark Office does not check this factor.

If your trademark shows similarities to existing registrations, this is not necessarily a reason not to register your trademark. However, a separate class selection or formulation of goods and services directories is usually required to avoid potential conflicts.

In general, the rule is: the more similar the signs are, the more distant the goods and services should be from each other. If the goods and services are identical, it is especially important that the trademark names significantly differ.

How long does trademark protection last, and what are the costs?

Developing a product or coming up with a trademark name takes considerable time. Checking the barriers requires some research and time before the trademark can be registered. Thus, it's interesting to know if all this effort is worthwhile in the long run.

If you register your trademark with the German Patent and Trademark Office, you receive trademark protection for 10 years for your label. Would you like to continue protecting your trademark after this period? Extending the protection is considerably easier than the initial registration.

For a renewal fee, you can extend the trademark protection for another 10 years. If you utilize regular renewal, the applied trademark protection never expires. Thus, the effort of the initial registration pays off in the long run.

This raises the question of costs. What expenses will you incur if you wish to register your trademark in the trademark register? To ensure that everything runs smoothly with your trademark application, it's advisable to consult an attorney specializing in trademark law or directly engage a patent attorney. Regardless of attorney fees, application fees are incurred during the trademark registration.

The fee amount depends on the number of registered Nice classes. Registration with the German Patent and Trademark Office costs 300€ for up to three Nice classes. If you choose the electronic application form, you can even save 10€. If you require more than three Nice classes for your application, each additional class costs 100€.

Do you want to protect your trademark outside of Germany, for example within the EU? Then, the European trademark office EUIPO charges a fee of 850€ for the first Nice class. An additional fee of 50€ applies for the second Nice class. From the third class, each additional class costs 150€.

Do you want to go even further and protect your trademark internationally? In this case, the fees depend on the chosen countries where the trademark should be protected. In any case, the basic fees for a registration are due. These amount to 653 CHF, currently equivalent to approximately 567€. In addition to the basic fee, the individual country fees apply.

Fig. 2 Overview of Trademark Forms

Protecting Trademark Names: How does the registration process work?

Now that the basic requirements and costs for a trademark registration are clarified, the question of the application process arises. First, you need to clarify which countries you want your trademark to be protected in, as this determines the registration with the relevant trademark office. Should your trademark be protected in Germany? Then, a trademark registration with the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) ensues.

Another option is the registration of a European Community trademark; then the protection is valid within the EU. Additionally, the trademark can also be registered for other countries and thus protected internationally.

If you choose a trademark registration in Germany, the DPMA offers three ways to apply:

• Trademark registration via online form

• Trademark registration by post with a written trademark protection form

• DPMAdirect: Online registration with signature

Fig. 3 Trademark Protection Form Template

In any case, a trademark protection form must be completed. The required information for a trademark registration is very similar for all three ways:

• Who is the trademark registration for? Your data is required here.

• Submission of the trademark to the DPMA in the exact form it should later be used. Your format specifications for written and electronic submissions, which should be strictly followed, also apply here.

• The indication of Nice classes for your goods and services.

Once the request is submitted, the German Patent Office checks the trademark registration for absolute barriers. The registration can be completed within a few business days. The examination and registration in the trademark register is completed within six months at the latest. Would you like to expedite the registration? Then you can request this for a fee of 200€.

Conclusion

Trademark law and registering a trademark in the register is very complex and can be lengthy in some cases. However, protecting your trademark name offers numerous advantages and is worthwhile in the long run.

Registering your trademark or your own internet domain in the trademark register protects it from attacks by third parties. Trademark registration gives you security in using your own product name. A registered trademark ensures the distinctiveness of your products from those of your competitors.

The registered trademark ensures customer recognition of a manufacturer. Finally, a trademark registration ensures that your trademark can achieve an image transfer and thus contribute to effective customer retention.

Have you already registered your domain as a trademark? We would be happy to support you further in developing an optimal marketing strategy. We are also happy to assist with the search engine optimization of your domain. We look forward to your inquiry.