Making intellectual property work for business - World Intellectual ...

Introduction | Intellectual property basics
Trademarks
For more information on
trademarks, see WIPO’s
guide to trademarks
entitled “Making a Mark”
at http://www.wipo.int/
sme/en/documents/
guides/making_mark.html
and ICC’s IP Roadmap
“Current and Emerging
Intellectual Property Issues
for Business: a Roadmap
for Business and Policy
Makers” at http://www.
iccwbo.org/policy/ip/
id2950/index.html
10 Making intellectual property work for business
A trademark allows users and consumers to differentiate the products (goods and services)
offered on the market by the owner of the trademark from the products offered
by its competitors. Trademarks are an essential part of the branding, advertising, and
marketing strategies of a business as they symbolise the relationship of trust developed
over a period of time by the manufacturer or provider of a product with the users
and consumers of its products.
For manufacturers or providers who have invested time, effort and money to
build up a good brand image, trademarks are a way to prevent others from unfairly
taking advantage of their reputation, credibility and relationship of trust with users and
consumers. This ensures fair competition between competitors in the marketplace and
encourages producers and service providers to invest in maintaining and improving the
quality and reputation of their products.
Most trademarks are visual (such as words, names, signs, slogans, symbols and
images) and therefore have to be capable of graphic representation for the purpose of
registration. However, in many countries, trademark law provides protection to trademarks
based on single colours, shapes, sounds, smells and moving images.
In most countries, a trademark is registered in a national or regional government
trademark office, usually for a period of ten years, which may be renewed indefinitely.
Most trademarks are registered for use on or in relation to specific goods or services.
The owner of a trademark can prevent others from using the trademark, or a similar
trademark, for the same or similar goods or services, if doing so is likely to cause confusion
in the minds of the public. In many countries, famous or well-known trademarks
also enjoy protection without registration.
Almost all businesses, large and small, rely on trademarks. Trademark protection
is used more than any other form of IPRs in most countries, as trademarks are integral
to effective branding. Trademarks are an indication of source for consumers and users,
and, therefore, serve to indicate the quality of the goods or services. This reduces
search costs for users and consumers who trust the owner of the trademark to deliver
on the promise made through the brand image.
There are several international agreements for trademark protection. For substantive
issues, the most important are the Paris Convention for the Protection
of Industrial Property (1883), the Trademark Law Treaty (1994), and the TRIPS
agreement (1994). The Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks was adopted
on March 28, 2006. For procedural issues, the main treaties are the Madrid
Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks (1891) and its
Protocol (1989), using French, English and Spanish as official languages, and the
Nice Agreement concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services
for the Purpose of Registration of Marks (1957). Regional trademark protection for
different regions can be obtained by applying to regional trademark offices such as
the African Regional Industrial Property Office, Benelux Trademark Office, Office for
the Harmonization of the Internal Market of the European Union, and Organisation
Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle.