International Trade Marks
27 February 2016
Whilst there is no single trade mark that covers the entire world, knowledge of the various regional and international filing systems means that global protection can be achieved with greater ease and less expense than filing national trade mark applications in each country.
In an ideal world brand owners would like to register a single trade mark that provides them with global trade mark protection. Unfortunately, this type of trade mark does not exist.
As each country has its own trade mark register, the general position is that separate applications need to be filed in each territory in which protection is required. This can be both an expensive and administratively burdensome exercise, particularly since most countries will require that a local law firm is instructed to handle matters in that country.