UAE businesses with a global presence or planning an imminent overseas expansion need to ensure that their trademarks remain protected in each country they operate. Trademark agents in the UAE can provide you with professional assistance to effectively maintain your overseas trademarks. After making the international trademark registration through the Madrid Protocol, you should not forget the important renewal or maintenance deadline stipulated by the IP office of each designated country.
You may lose your international registration by missing the deadline. Losing the trademark rights will dent your revenues and brand reputation. In this article, we will enlighten you about some of the ways you can maintain your overseas trademark registration:
Check Your Renewal Dates
Maintaining an international trademark registration filed under the Madrid Protocol is not a complex process. The most important deadline you need to remember under the Madrid Protocol is the renewal deadline for your trademark registration. As per the regulations of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), your international trademark registration is valid for ten years.
You can renew the trademark registration every ten years directly with the WIPO. All the countries designated for trademark registration will have the same renewal date. WIPO counts the date of renewal from the first instance of filing. Moreover, your date of renewal will be the same for the subsequently designated countries. Trademark agents in the UAE can help you with advice on how to renew your overseas trademark registration.
Check for Declarations of Use
In most countries under the Madrid Protocol, only renewal will be enough to maintain international trademark registration. However, in some countries, maintenance involves declarations of use as well. The UAE and the Philippines require declarations of use every few years. Declarations of use ensure that the owner of the registered trademark still uses the trademark for the goods and services claimed. You need to comply with these requirements to ensure that your international trademark registration is maintained. Your international registration is likely to lapse if you fail to comply with such regulations.
Display Ownership of Your Trademark
It is a well-known fact that the Madrid Protocol allows you to register a trademark in more than 120 countries through a single filing in a single language, involving a single set of fees. However, you need to ensure you are completely using these key benefits of the Madrid Protocol. After registration is granted, you can use the trademark symbol wherever your brand name appears. You should use the symbol in all of your business activities in the particular countries of registration.
When you use the symbol, anyone who sees the mark will come to know that you are the owner of a registered trademark. It also serves as a warning that other businesses are not authorised to use the mark without your permission. You can also display ownership of a trademark in other forms, such as the website terms of use. The term of use in a website is a legal document that requires the visitors of your website to acknowledge your intellectual property rights for the material on your website, including the trademarks.
Avail of Trademark Watch Services
Trademark registration doesn’t guarantee 100% protection for your trademarks. The more famous your brand gets, the more vulnerable your trademarks become. Once your trademark gets more customers, your competitors may try to come up with trademarks that are similar to yours. Your customers may confuse the new trademark with yours and your competitor may get a portion of your revenue.
This constitutes trademark infringement and it will tarnish your brand image along with denting your revenues. Therefore, you need to watch out in the marketplace for the existence of any mark that is similar to yours. You can avail of trademark watch services to identify the presence of confusingly similar trademarks in the marketplace. Consult with trademark agents in the UAE for more information on trademark watch services.
Watch Out for Central Attack
Your overseas trademark registration under the Madrid Protocol is dependent on the basic mark for five years from the date of registration of the international registration. Any negative action on your basic mark will have the same effect on your international registration as well. For example, your international registration will be cancelled if your basic mark gets cancelled. This risk arising out of the dependency on the basic mark is called the Central Attack. In the case of the Central Attack, the WIPO allows you to transform each of the designated countries into national rights. Trademark agents in the UAE can offer more insights on the Central Attack under the Madrid Protocol.
Consult with the Best Trademark Agents in the UAE
You can make use of the tips stated in this blog to effectively maintain your international trademark registration under the Madrid Protocol. If you are still confused about how to maintain your overseas trademarks, consult with trademark agents in the UAE such as Jitendra Intellectual Property (JIP).
JIP offers bespoke trademark services in Dubai at cost-effective rates. Our services include trademark registration, trademark search, and trademark watch services. With our assistance, you can file a trademark not only in the UAE but across the GCC and more than 120 countries that are part of the Madrid Protocol. Enjoy hassle-free trademark registration using JIP’s robust trademark protection strategies.