A Guide to Mitigate Risks of Losing Trademark Rights

Carefully managing the use of a trademark is paramount to avoid the risk of losing trademark rights and registrations. Trademarks are the most valuable IP assets as it helps in creating a reputation for the brands among the customers. Trademarks are also critical for businesses to enhance their brand value among customers. This means the trademark owners cannot sit complacent after performing trademark registration in the UAE.

Companies assess the value of their trademarks in big amounts on their balance sheets. The loss of trademark rights due to improper management and use may deal a substantial financial blow to your business. More importantly, if you have invested large sums of dirhams for branding, the loss can be disastrous for the company. A better way to avoid the risk of losing trademark rights can be by hiring trademark agents in Dubai. They will help you register the trademarks in the UAE and will also assist you in managing them afterwards.

The following will gives you a peek into four ways you may lose your trademark rights:

Cancellation through Abandonment/non-use

Abandonment of trademarks is one of the major reasons that may lead to the loss of trademark rights. Abandonment of trademarks can happen when the trademark owner doesn’t show any intent to resume the use of their registered trademarks in the UAE. The Trademark Law (Federal Law No. 37/1992) and its amendments by Federal Law No. 8/2002 of “Trademark Law”, gives third parties the right to request for the cancellation of trademarks that has not been actively used in 5 consecutive years since its registration.

Failure to Renew & Manage Portfolios

Efficiently managing the trademark portfolios is critical when it comes to protecting trademark rights. You should know in advance whether your trademark registration in the UAE is up for renewal. Generally, your trademark registration is valid for up to ten years. After that, you need to file for trademark renewal.

You will get a grace period of 3 months after the protection of the trademark expire. A renewal application can be filed during this grace period. Once the grace period is passed, the UAE Ministry of Economy will remove the trademark from the register on its own motion. To reclaim the rights, you need to file a fresh application for trademark registration at the UAE Trademark Office. In short, failure to renew registration will lead to loss of money in addition to the loss of trademark rights.

Your Mark Loses Distinctiveness

One of the basic purposes of a trademark is to preserve the distinctiveness of the brand name. Any scenario that causes the dilution of that distinctiveness may prove to be a ground for cancellation. Loss of distinctiveness leads to loss of trademark rights as well as money and resources. Businesses would be forced to spend huge amounts of money for rebranding or sacrifice a particular product or service entirely.

Losing Rights over Trademark Litigation

While registering your trademarks in the UAE, you need to ensure that you are not infringing upon the rights of other brand owners. Registering trademarks that are confusingly similar to other existing trademarks may lead to trademark disputes. Third parties can sue for trademark infringement. And if the third parties win the case, you may lose the trademark rights, and it may tarnish your brand image. Trademark agents in Dubai, UAE provide effective trademark search services which would help you reduce the risk of litigations.

How Can Trademark Agents in Dubai Help?

As mentioned in the blog, there are numerous ways in which brand owners lose their trademark rights. Abandonment, non-renewal, litigation, and loss of distinctiveness are some of the top reasons that may snatch your trademark rights in the UAE. This means you need to be conscious of the use of your trademarks. Maintaining the integrity of your trademark and monitoring its use are your own responsibility.

However, it is usually hard for business owners to keep a tab on their registered trademarks posts the registration. This risk can be minimised to a great extent by hiring the best trademark agents in Dubai, such as Jitendra Intellectual Property (JIP).  JIP is a full-fledged intellectual property service provider in Dubai, UAE with years of experience in assisting brand owners with trademark registration, search and timely renewal. JIP’s highly qualified trademark agents can represent the rights holders in any legal matters and disputes over trademark cancellation requests. JIP can help clients with building sufficient proof to defend against any trademark opposition. JIP is committed to ensuring that the trademark rights of the clients remain protected in the UAE and other GCC countries.