Author: GCS Global Brands

Did you know Beyonce got her children’s name trademarked? Even ‘Blank space’ singer Taylor Swift has her name trademarked!

But why? Why do artists trademark their names? Or in Beyonce’s case, her kids? After all, what’s in the name, right?

Well, as it turns out, a lot!

Your name is not just your identity but a proof of authenticity, opulence and value. When you find a store named ‘Beyonce’ or ‘Beiber’ or ‘Taylor Swift’, you might walk into that store thinking that it offers products by these legendary artists. Now, what if, in fact, this store you walked in, did not belong to Beyonce but only used her name to sell their products?

That’s why artists should Trademark their names!

Years of hard work, labour and efforts to build a community, a fan base, a huge following and someone else takes advantage of it? That’s pretty unfair. So, what do you do? You get your name Trademarked. Here are three reasons why-

1. Prevent Malice: To prevent fraudsters from taking undue advantage, you must register your name as a trademark.
2. Authenticity: You can offer authentic, genuine products to your fans that others can’t. Having them deceived by others with fake products is something that can be controlled.
3. Domain name, social media: You can use it in the future to have your own website for your merchandise. You can prevent people from creating a fake profile of you. You should be the one sending out cease and desist notices.

What does Trademark Registration Offer You?

With registration, you are conferred with certain privileges, such as:
1. You have an exclusive right over your name
2. Nobody else can use your name for their brand or line of products or services
3. You can prevent malicious use of your name
4. You can sue anybody who uses your name without your permission and consent

With such benefits and advantages, you must consider getting it registered before anybody else. Finally, why Beyonce got her children’s name trademark- because she wanted to avoid people using her children’s name to sell their products. You see, in the presence of social media, we are obsessed with celebrities and their children. No one should take undue advantage of our obsession though, right?!

Trademarks are the name, logo, symbol, design, or any combination thereof that identifies a product or service. A service mark represents the same thing, except for service businesses. If you plan on doing business internationally, registering your trademark worldwide might be a brilliant idea.

THE FIRST STEP
If you have designed a trademark for your business, your primary onus is to register it with the local Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO in the case of the UK). You may go global after applying to your country of origin.

WHY REGISTER TRADEMARK IN ALL CONTINENTS
Global registration of a trademark is not a legal requirement if your business covers the local consumer markets. However, if you trade online, deal in NFTs marketplaces, or have an e-commerce business, you should consider registering your trademark internationally.

HOW TO REGISTER A TRADEMARK COVERING ALL CONTINENTS
There is no such thing as global trademark registration. The Madrid Protocol was created in order to facilitate the international registration of trademarks. It was established in 1989 and is administered by World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO.

Check if your trademark is available on the GCS Global Brands website

To start your trademark search, navigate the GCS Global Brands website to check if your trademark is available. Here you can submit an enquiry and one of our trademark experts will be happy to have a chat to discuss which solutions will work best for you.

A trademark is the unique legal name of your product or business. If you don’t register it, considering it an unnecessary hassle, your customers might be tempted away by rivals. This is where you should start thinking about your business name registration.

Trademark provides essential legal protection to your business; hence you must know the basic requirements for trademarking your business’s name. If you feel the requirements are fulfilled, you may navigate the GCS Global Brands website to check if your trademark is available. Here you can submit an enquiry and one of our trademark experts will be happy to have a chat to discuss which solutions will work best for you.

WHAT CAN BE TRADEMARKED?

1. Name
2. Logo
3. sign
4. Audio
5. Picture
6. A mixture of the above or, in fact, anything that can be represented graphically and has unique characteristics.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

To be eligible for registration of a new mark,

1. Your business name, logo, or audio must show unique characteristics. A unique and distinctive name, sign, or logo recognizes the business and is a reason for its registration. Descriptive names such as milk for all kinds of milk products or shoes for all types of shoes are too generic, so they should be avoided,
2. It must not contain offensive content, sign, or imagery,
3. Misleading words, such as the word `organic,` is used for a product that is made up of chemicals,
4. A three-dimensional shape directly depicts the goods, such as the shape of an egg for the egg business.
5. A mark that resembles a flag, state symbol, or hallmark is not eligible under World Intellectual Property Organization guidelines. The mark to be eligible must not contain offensive content.

If you are using a mark for years, that alone makes you eligible for registration even if it was not registrable when new.

To start your trademark search, navigate the GCS Global Brands website to check if your trademark is available. Here you can submit an enquiry and one of our trademark experts will be happy to have a chat to discuss which solutions will work best for you.

All over the world, businesses are offering various products and services. However, given the sheer number of brands that can exist within a particular industry, it becomes necessary to differentiate these businesses to make it easier for consumers to identify their preferred goods and services.

Trademarks are, therefore, necessary in today’s world. So what are trademarks?

What are Trademarks?

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, sign, or a combination of marks that identifies an enterprise’s goods and services. These marks help distinguish the goods and services of one business from others. Once a word/symbol is trademarked, other enterprises within the same line of business are prevented from using the same word/trademark. This way, trademarks reduce the likelihood that a customer would mistake a brand’s goods and services for another.

How to File a Trademark Application?

A typical trademark application in the UK would go through the following stages:

• Trademark Search: The first step is to check whether the intended trademark is available. . To start your trademark search, navigate the GCS Global Brands website to check if your trademark is available. Here you can submit an enquiry and one of our trademark experts will be happy to have a chat to discuss which solutions will work best for you.

• Application Filing: Once our trademark expert confirms the mark in question is eligible, an application can be filed.  The application requires details of the intended trademark, the personal/company details of the intended owner, and the type of goods and services for which the trademark is intended.

• Trademark Examination: The filed application is then checked by the Trademark Examiner on various grounds such as distinctiveness and similarity with existing trademarks. Where necessary, the examiner may ask additional questions. If an examination object is raised, the applicant would be provided a period to respond.

• Publication: Once the examination is completed, the trademark application is published in the online Trade Mark Journal. After publication, other brands are provided two months to raise opposition against the filed mark(s). Where opposition is raised, you can provide reasons and proof as to why your application should be approved. It is, however, more likely that opposition would be resolved amicably.

• Final Registration: Once the application scales through the opposition stage, if any, it can be fully approved and registered.

At GCS Global Brands we receive thousands of trademark applications. The truth is, many trademark applications are denied, therefore it is imperative to ensure your mark is filed entirely fit for purpose and enforced effectively.

It is far cheaper and more effective to register your trademark today than to try to fight someone over it later. Think of it as an insurance policy – you may not have needed it, but you are absolutely relieved when the accident happens.

Calculate the price of a trademark registration using our online trademark fee calculator price tool

Copyright is one of the most widespread forms of intellectual property protection. It exists across most jurisdictions and generally applies to literary, artistic, musical, cinematographic works, etc. However, for a work to qualify for copyright protection, it must meet specific requirements. Thus, this article will discuss the two core principles that copyrighted works adhere to originality and fixation.

Originality
As the name suggests, this principle simply states that a work must be original to qualify for copyright protection. In essence, the work cannot simply be a copy of another. Generally, works are considered original when they are independently created by a person and have some degree of creativity.

It is essential to clarify that works can still be considered original, even if they are derivative of another work to some degree. For instance, a song that samples aspects of the production of another song would likely still be copyrightable. Thus, unlike patents, copyright works are not necessarily required to be novel.

Fixation
Fixation means that work is expressed in a tangible form. A tangible form could be a written work, a recording, a video, or any other form that is sufficiently permanent to be perceived, reproduced, or communicated for more than a short period.

The effect of the fixation requirement is that copyright law would not protect ideas yet to be expressed. For instance, a plotline for a novel that exists only in the author’s mind is not copyrightable. However, once this idea is expressed through writing or some other tangible form, it instantly becomes a copyrightable work.

Final Thoughts
The two copyright principles of originality and fixation are necessary for two reasons. First, to ensure that copyrighted works have some level of creative effort. Second, to ensure that these works can be demonstrated by evidence if required. Nonetheless, these requirements are pretty easy to satisfy and, as such, do not constitute an obstacle for most creators.