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As a business, you likely have trade marks that reflect your business’ brand. Even if you do not register your trade marks, the law in some cases will protect you from others using them without your permission. This article will discuss what legal rights you have in your trade marks and how they differ in unregistered versus registered trade marks.
What Are Registered and Unregistered Trade Marks?
Trade marks, both unregistered and registered, take the form of a distinguishable mark such as a logo, slogan, sound, word or a combination of these. The mark distinguishes your business from others and is a branding tool to strengthen your business’ market reputation.
Unregistered Trade Marks
Unregistered trade marks are those that have not been registered with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). Therefore, such marks do not possess the same legal protections as their registered counterparts. They are only enforceable when you have built up a sufficient connection between your mark and business.
Businesses commonly seek to assert their rights over unregistered trade marks by using the “™” symbol.
Registered Trade Marks
These arise when you make a successful application with the IPO. Registered trade marks are distinguished with the ® symbol.
Registering a trade mark grants you exclusive rights to use the mark in your area of trade. It distinguishes your business from others and provides you with grounds to challenge anyone who uses the mark without your consent.
Rights in Unregistered Trade Marks
Unregistered trade marks grant you fewer rights largely because you have to assert a higher ownership claim over the marks than registered marks. In effect, your trade mark must contain adequate goodwill with the public. This means that there is a sufficient connection between the mark and your business’ brand.
If a competitor is attempting to use your unregistered trade mark, the law dubs this “passing off”. And you can take legal action against this, provided you can satisfy the goodwill test mentioned above. The law also requires you to demonstrate that the competitor’s misappropriation of your mark caused your business harm.
The threshold tends to be quite high in satisfying these tests. As a result, your trade marks are better protected by registering them with the IPO.
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Rights in Registered Trade Marks
When you register your trade mark with the IPO, you are provided with the right of exclusivity. This means no other individual or business can use your trade mark within your area of business without consent. If someone does, the law automatically entitles you to bring legal action against them. This is because you have already established ownership over the market.
When registering your trade mark, you can select from nearly fifty classes based on your area of trade. Selecting the right classes is quite important. The law only protects the classes you register your trade mark under. Consequently, to maximise your rights, you should choose classes according to your business’s current and future operations.
Key Takeaways
Trade marks are highly useful for businesses in terms of building your brand and also your reputation within your business sector. The law distinguishes between registered and unregistered trade marks. The key difference is that it is harder to assert ownership over unregistered trade marks than registered ones. But you
If you need help deciding whether to register a trade mark, our experienced intellectual property lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
A registered mark is one that is registered with the Intellectual Property Office, and an unregistered trade mark is not. The main difference is that registered trade marks are granted exclusivity and are easier to protect against infringement because of their registration.
You can either reach a settlement outside court or alternatively, if your trade mark is registered, you can take legal proceedings for trade mark infringement. If your trade mark is unregistered, you can still take legal proceedings against them but you will have to meet a higher threshold to prove the mark belongs to your business.
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