International Registrations
Powerful Right Of Registration
Having a registration for your brand in the US is a powerful right. This right confers many benefits, including using it as the basis for filing for trademark protection in foreign countries. If you take advantage of certain treaty provisions, you can gain additional rights in the foreign country.
While many lawyers know how to use the WIPO system to file foreign applications through the USPTO, not as many lawyers know when this may not be advantageous for you.
Further, very few have contacts in foreign firms. Initiating Protection has connections with law firms in more than 100 countries which can enable us to: file directly in that country when appropriate; respond to issues raised by the PTO in that country; be listed as attorney of record to let it be known that we take our rights in that country seriously; to represent you if someone in the foreign country attacks your right to use or register your brand there.
Authenticating Your Rights
Authenticating your rights in you brand may be one of the most basic ways you can show you are serious about protecting your brand. Many trademark lawyers will correct me and tell me to replace the words “Authenticating your rights in you brand” with “Gaining a federal registration for your trademark.” We’re not “many trademark lawyers”; we are a special breed and we are brand counsel.
We prefer “authentication” over “federal registration” for two primary reasons. First, there are steps that can serve as a record of your rights in your brand that do not involve trademark registrations. Second, there is so much more to the world than just the United States.
It’s a Small World Now
International trade was once the sole domain of large companies. The world has shrunk thanks to the ease of communication and transportation. This means so many small businesses can now offer goods and services outside of the US. We’ve created a law firm that can keep up with these demands.
One of the core principles of Initiating Protection is nurturing personal relationships. This principle of course applies to our clients, but it also applies to the lawyers around the world that help our clients as they transact business around the globe. Our firm has a unique list of firms and lawyers that can help our clients in more than 100 countries.
While getting a lawyer to respond to a demand letter in the European Union is something that could be done online, getting one that knows your issues requires a personal connection. In one success story, we had a client referred to us who needed to understand intellectual property laws in India as it had an opportunity to license a piece of technology there. We arranged a call with our highly competent Indian counsel within 24 hours. Connections matter.