The company's most important asset is worth protecting

The trademark is where you want to build in all the positive values ​​that are created when you offer products and services to clients, and deliver strong results to owners and other stakeholders. A trademark in our more "legal perspective" is a hallmark of a product, a service, a concept or why not the whole company. What they have in common is that it helps you and your company to create identification for what is important and valuable for you to develop.

Why trademark protection?

Protecting your business and your products and services through registered trademarks is a cornerstone of a successful market presence. The gap between fast and carelessly generated names of trademarks and well-prepared trademarks that get attention in your business plan is large.

 

A trademark can, for example, consist of words, figures, letters, numbers, personal names, slogans, holograms or sounds. It can also be a specific design of the product itself or its packaging. A trademark registration is valid for a period of ten years and you can renew the registration for another 10 years as many times as you like.

 

Creating and establishing strong and more or less global protection is challenging, not least in view of the record high level of trademark registrations submitted in recent years. The likelihood of confusion with already registered trademarks is a risk factor. We help you manage that risk with good preparation and sharp management of the trademarks you choose to introduce to the market.

More good reasons to protect your trademark

There are many reasons and here are a few. You can more easily take measures against trademarks that infringe on your registered right. You can see trademark protection as a "risk-managed" asset that will increase the value of your product and help you build a presence in different markets. You decide where the protection will apply, for example throughout the EU, the US, Norway, China or maybe just in your home market?

 

Your right to the trademark will give you a good negotiating position when entering into sales and licensing agreements, and the trademark will increase the value of your company and make it more visible to potential investors.

8 unique insights from our trademark experts:

There are lots of books written on the theme of trademarking, but below follows a selection of business strategy tips from Bergenstråhle's trademarking experts:

 

    1. A trademark registration is a way to tell the outside world that your brand represents something important and valuable, worth protecting and not least, worth buying. Why else would you spend time and money on a registration process?
    2. Trademarks should strengthen your business. For those less experienced in intellectual property, the creation of intellectual property rights in general, and, trademarks in particular, can be seen as "box-ticking". That attitude can be fatal to your business. Developing a strong trademark is a top priority. The longer you wait, the greater the risk of legal complications. Every marketing effort, every event and activity, every sales initiative and every marketing launch you undertake without relevant trademark protection, creates a risk in an outside world you have no control over.
    3. Brandbuilding should be linked to risk management. The options you choose from as potential trademark candidates, should be accompanied by clear risk descriptions and assessments. It should be a natural part of your decision-making process.
    4. Creativity in trademark creation and management should be linked to uniqueness in the outcome. The emotional attachment to creative name suggestions easily becomes a dominant factor that is allowed to overshadow the need for proven uniqueness. It is easy to fall for high creativity but at the same time it is demanding and expensive to get caught up in trademark disputes.
    5. Think differently. Through an ability to attract both emotional and functional parts of our senses, a trademark can gain a lot of ground. It's not just a name, it's an association, a context, a promise, a wish and often an entire concept. It can be your entire business.
    6. Registered, but not necessarily protected. Often companies have a strong focus on achieving registration. There is no doubt that this is important, but there is a big difference between a trademark that can easily get a registration simply because the registration rules are followed, and another trademark that gets its protection based on insights about unique market conditions, especially when the trademark protection is to apply in multiple regions and markets. This is not the only factor to deal with, but it is an area where originality matters. The more unique and distinctive your trademarks are, the easier it will be to protect them in the long run.
    7. Individual names and name concepts need to be assessed differently. Context, connection to products and services, level of digitalisation and use in different markets all matter.
    8. Prioritising the creation and valuation of the company’s trademarks IS business development and "big business". It contributes to higher bottom line figures in the company's accounts.