WHAT IS A TRADEMARK?

We can say that whatever we do, wherever we look at…there is a trademark. Trademarks are not only business tools, but also metaphors and presences of our daily life, because everything could be related to a trademark. Everything around us has a relation with a trademark. The shoes we use for our sporting activities, the food we eat, the drink we go crazy for…most of the times we don’t think about the single type of shoe for our jogging, the hamburger with our friends, or the energy drink…maybe we think directly NIKE, Mc Donald and Red Bull or other famous or not famous brands. And how many times are we used to compare different brands?! Also the places we live in are full of trademarks, the media we use for connecting one each other, or the platforms for our entertainment…and most of the times these trademarks are so close to us, so part of our existence that they become part of our lifes and values too. Talking always in terms of metaphors, maybe also us, as people, are a sort of moving trademarks or a sort of living human brands. The clothes we wear, the hair style, the food we eat…it’s the reason why exists something like Facebook or even more Instagram, Tik Tok and so on. But let’s stop phylosopy and let’s go to business, because time is money, and trademarks are the essential part of each kind of business. In a so competitive and globalized business environment every business not only “has”, but also “needs” a trademark, whether it is registered or not. Your trademark is your brand. Whether it's your product name, or your business name, or both. And having the exclusive right of use of a trademark means to have a sort of monopoly on a brand, impeding third parties to use identical or similar signs for the same products/services

Are you really aware how is important to register Your Trademark? Take a look at our FAQ & Tips

As mentioned before we live in a brand-oriented society, where brands are all fighting for catching our attention and our wallets too. The value and importance of brands has risen fastly and relevantly over the last decades, especially after the booming of the web and social media. For this reason today it's more important than ever that companies of all sizes protect their brands. The choice of a new name, of a pay-off, of a slogan, or of a logo and whatever is recognizable as a trademark has never been so important and so risky at the same time. Ten years ago statistical data told us, as professionals approaching with trademark registrations, that about 15% of trademark registration applications were opposed or refused by other trademarks owners or by the trademark office. Today, for example only in European Union, this data has grown up to more than 20%.

Let's get Your Trademark registered! It's easy, fast and convenient with TMEU.

You don't believe...don't you?!...So take a look at our incredible rates

So…what is a trademark? Let’s try to figure out first of all the functions of the trademark.

According the EU law (Art. 4 of the European Union Trademark Regulation - Reg. n. 1001/2017) “An EU trade mark may consist of any signs, in particular words, including personal names, or designs, letters, numerals, colours, the shape of goods or of the packaging of goods, or sounds, provided that such signs are capable of:

(a) distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings; and

(b) being represented on the Register of European Union trade marks (‘the Register’), in a manner which enables the competent authorities and the public to determine the clear and precise subject matter of the protection afforded to its proprietor.

In few words a trademark is something that:

• is capable of distinguishing someone or something as the source of goods or services
• can be represented in an objective and universal way.

Distinctiveness and indication of origin are the most important functions and roles related to a trademark. The role of a trademark is to distinguish the product/s or the service/s which a company or an individual sell and provide into the market, from other product/s or service/s of the same nature sold and/or provided by another company or individual. Therefore we can finally say that behind the trademark there is not only a “private function”, linked in some way to the ownership of any single trademark, but especially a “public function” connected to the importance of addressing consumers in their intention of purchase and their approach to the entire range of products/services available into the market and their proper origin.

...And now is clear what is a Trademark? Need a quick refresh? Take a look at our FAQ & Tips