You’ve chosen a brand and it’s just about to take off, but you want to know if it’s available and you’re not sure what other similar brands are out there and. Maybe you’ve been investing in your brand for years and you want to make sure its valuable reputation is protected. Or, it’s too late, and someone’s gone and stolen your idea or logo and their products are being mistaken for yours.
Perhaps you want to license or sell your brand, or you’re thinking of stepping things up a notch and taking it overseas. For any of these situations, registering a trade mark protects your business identity and prevents your competition from using a confusingly similar (or identical) one. If protected properly, your trade mark can become the most valuable asset in your business.
Registering your trademark involves a few hurdles and tricks to get right. We have a dedicated intellectual property lawyer specializing in all things copyright and trademark related. With years of experience under our belts, we can advise on and handle the process, and work with you on a strategy to best protect what’s yours.
What Can We Offer You?
1. Consultation
We can advise you on:
- Suitability of your brand for use and registration
- Protecting and increasing your brand’s value
- Other trade mark-related matters in South Africa and internationally
- Dispute resolution strategies
2. Conduct Trademark Search
We search for similar brands on the Thailand Trade Mark Register or abroad that could block the registration of your trade mark. The results help us tailor our filing strategy, increasing the possibility of successful registration.
3. Trademark Registrations
We will administer the entire registration process, ensuring your brand is legally protected and owned by you. This includes:
Step 1: Filing your mark
A trade mark is protected from the first moment of filing (if it proceeds to registration), which is the first step of the application process involved in registering your trade mark.
We will:
- Establish a filing strategy to increase the likelihood of successful registration
- Identify the applicable classes of products or services
- Prepare the specification of products or services for the relevant classes
- File applications with the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP)
Step 2: Examination of your mark
After about 12 months, DIP will examine the application and either accept, provisionally refuse, or accept subject to conditions.
We will:
- Report the examiner’s response and strategize with you to comply with the examiner’s conditions or overcome the provisional refusal
- Respond to the examiner satisfying their conditions or take steps to overcome the provisional refusal
Step 3: Advertising and Registration
Once accepted, we will have your application advertised in the Trademark Gazette of Thailand for opposition purposes.
We will:
- Provide a strategy and assist with negotiation or litigation, if an opposition is lodged
- Draft your registration certificate and finalize the procedure, if no opposition is lodged or an opposition has been overcome
4. Other Trademark Services
Renewal and Ongoing Services
We will:
- Diarise and remind you when trade mark registrations become renewable
- Be the address for service for any correspondence related to the trade mark
- Notify you of any potentially conflicting trade marks
Miscellaneous Services
We offer:
- Assigning a trade mark from one person to another and recording it on the Register
- Changing the name or address of a trade mark owner on the Register
- Obtaining a new trade mark certificate
- Removing conflicting trade marks from the Register
- Restoring your trade marks that have been removed from the Register
5. Global Trademark Services
To expand your playground unlimited, we can provide you filing trademark application globally. This service include
- Conduct oversea trademark search
- Prepare and file international trademark application
We will advise you the proper system to file your international trademark application which could be a national application, Madrid System, European Union Trademark, or US trademark.
We and our partner can also assist you in a international trademark dispute or issue a take down notice to your trademark infringer in any country.