Watch Services
Trade mark watching is necessary as it generally falls on trade mark owners themselves to police their marks because in many countries the trademark offices make no checks at all to see if a new application would conflict with older applications and registrations. It is up to brand owners to watch for publication of conflicting later applications and object if appropriate.
To ensure others do not register trade marks that are similar to yours put a watch service in place. A watch service may be implemented for specific countries or worldwide.
Once a watch is in place, you will be alerted about potentially similar marks, so you may consider opposing them. It is more cost effective to oppose someone’s application before it is granted, than to apply to cancel a registration that has slipped through.
Why a watch service?
Another good reason for using a watch service is that in many countries the right to a trade mark is primarily given by registration rather than by being the first user. So if you are using an unregistered mark in such a country, a registration for that mark by a third party may well stop you from continuing to use the mark. A watch would alert you to such a situation before it was too late.
Our offering
We are able to offer a UK or CTM watch service at competitive rates for the first year per trademark. Please ask us for an individual quote if you would like a watch service covering groups of countries, or ‘worldwide'.
At the end of each year of watching, we will review the searches made during the year and set the price for the subsequent year based on how many relevant marks were found in the first year.
Note that the watch service prices are for the watch service itself. If any action needs to be taken as a result of the findings of the watch service, such as filing oppositions, then additional costs arise.
What next?
If you need legal work please call us on +44 (0)20 7700 1414 or if you prefer send us an enquiry using the form below. Depending on your requirements we may suggest a free meeting. This is often the best way to assess whether we would be the right firm for you, and to understand the work involved, your priorities, attitude to risk, and desired timescales.
