Tailored trade mark registration: Building brands that last
Trade mark registration is the foundational act of securing your brand name, logo, or identifying features as a legal asset.
It grants you a crucial monopoly right to use your brand and prevents others from exploiting your reputation.
However, a registration is only as strong as its foundation.
A poorly drafted trade mark specification, or a failure to anticipate future market opportunities and challenges, can leave your business vulnerable to opposition, invalidation, or costly infringement disputes down the line.
Or, it can result in a trade mark that does not stand up to scrutiny when you seek to enforce it.
Our service moves beyond simple form-filling; we create a litigation-informed registration that is designed to survive the pressures of a commercial challenge and is a strong tool for enforcing the boundaries of what makes you unique.
Trade mark registration: How we assist you
We provide a comprehensive, strategic service that treats trade mark registration as a fundamental business investment, not just an administrative task.
Our approach involves deep commercial consultation to ensure your trade mark is fit for your business' growth trajectory and becomes a core asset for the business.
- Forensic clearance: We conduct thorough searches and clearance checks not just to identify existing marks, but to anticipate the specific objections, oppositions, and future infringement claims that could arise.
- Tailored specifications: We meticulously craft the list of goods and services (specifications) to ensure maximum coverage across all markets you plan to enter. This includes a crucial registration gap analysis to ensure no future commercial activity is left unprotected.
- Global strategy: We advise on the most cost-effective and legally sound path for international deployment, managing filings with the UKIPO, EUIPO, and through the WIPO Madrid Protocol for seamless global protection.
Our unique capability in this area
Our firm’s unique capability lies in the fact that we are IP litigation specialists first. We don't just file papers; we engineer defensive legal assets; such that they're "battle ready" if called upon.
Our team knows precisely where trade mark specifications and registrations fail under cross-examination in court.
This experience allows us to build your registration to withstand the pressures of opposition, infringement, and invalidation claims from day one.
You receive a future-proofed asset, giving your business a decisive advantage and absolute certainty in your brand rights.
Tailored trade mark registration: Common questions and answers
What is the benefit of a "tailored" registration over a standard filing service?
A standard filing service focuses on speed and cost, often using generic classifications that result in an overly narrow or legally weak registration.
A tailored service focuses on defensibility and commercial scope both for how you plan to deploy the brand now and into the future.
We use our litigation knowledge to choose classifications that cover your true commercial intent, anticipating future products and market expansion, ensuring the registration is a powerful, durable asset.
How does your litigation experience influence the registration process?
Our litigation experience is integrated into two key areas: clearance and specification drafting. #
We know which types of prior marks are most likely to pose a challenge in court (or IPO proceedings), allowing for a more accurate risk assessment.
Crucially, we draft the specification of goods and services to be unambiguous and robust, eliminating the vagueness that opponents exploit to challenge validity - whilst maintaining your claim over use of the brand for certain goods and services both now and also into the future.
What is a trade mark "specification" and why is it so important?
The specification lists the specific goods and services your trade mark will protect. It is the legal boundary of your protection.
If your specification is too narrow, a competitor can legally operate outside it.
If it is too vague or broad, an opponent can successfully oppose or invalidate it.
We meticulously draft a tailored specification to achieve the perfect balance of commercial coverage and legal defensibility.
How long does the trade mark registration process typically take?
The timeline depends on the jurisdiction (e.g. UKIPO, EUIPO). Generally, the process for a straightforward application takes 4 to 6 months if no third-party opposition is filed.
Our proactive approach minimises opposition risk through thorough expert clearance beforehand, but we are ready to defend your application assertively if challenged.
Next steps
Don't treat your brand security as a checklist item. Invest in a trade mark registration that is built to win.
Use the calendar below to arrange a consultation with our team and begin building a defensible asset for your business.
The content on this page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No solicitor-client relationship is created by your use of this site. While we strive to ensure the information is accurate and up-to-date, it should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal counsel. For specific advice regarding your legal situation, please contact us directly to arrange a consultation.
Find out more about how we charge for what we do here.