Before deciding on which name, color and symbol the products you will offer to your customers will bear, and before making investments in this direction, it is necessary to check whether they have already been registered as a trademark for the same products and services by others in your sector. In this context, it is of particular importance to make an accurate brand class analysis.
A free search can be made from the databases provided by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, WIPO and EUIPO, as well as using an up-to-date software that can automatically search for alternative variations over the trademark phrase, allowing more reliable results.
Thus, the risk of not detecting possible similar brands in letter changes is largely eliminated. As YALIN PATENT, we can present you with a detailed trademark research report before the trademark application and analyze the risks that may occur in the registration processes together with you.
We report to you the risks that may be experienced in the process of a possible trademark application through the trademark research report we have carried out before your application. In this way, you can have the opportunity to prevent time and money losses in case of a problem such as not being able to register your brands that you want to use on your products.
In the meantime, we inform you in detail about all trademark registration processes. It is of great importance for us that you are informed in detail about all stages, durations and costs, which are the basic stages of a trademark application, such as application, form examination, publication decision, publication, objection, objection processes and registration.
If everything goes well after the application, a trademark application may result in registration within 6-8 months, while this period can be extended to 12-20 months and sometimes longer with a simple objection. As can be seen, it is very strategic to put the brand identification processes at the forefront of the activities for putting your products on the market, as the registration phase may require significant periods of time. Otherwise, at the stage of presenting your products to your customers, you may have to risk your investments with an unregistered brand or purchase a ready registered brand for a higher fee.
After the trademark application, the decision to examine the form to be given by the Institution and then the examination in terms of the substance constitutes the beginning of the whole process. After your trademark application is published in the Agency’s bulletin with the trademark publication decision, it is possible for third parties with an interest to object to your application within 2 months. In this case, giving a counter-opinion to the objection within 1 month is very valuable in the evaluation process of the objection. At the same time, it is a very important strategy to take the opportunity to demand whether the obligation to use the trademark of the objecting party is met or not, and to exclude the trademark that is the basis of the objection from the evaluation.
As can be seen, there are many critical stages from the trademark application to the registration, and the correct management of these with attorney-client communications can only bring success. As YALIN PATENT, we not only represent our clients’ brands correctly in administrative processes, but also ensure that you understand and see all stages clearly with good verbal and written communication.
Another important issue that you should consider starting from your trademark application is monitoring the trademark applications of others. In the same sector, tracking and detecting trademark applications bearing similar phrases to your trademark for similar products and services, and ending the application process without being registered by making an objection within the legal period, prevents your trademark from being watered down by similar products.
Trademark applications that differ slightly from your trademark in terms of letter, character or appearance are published and if they are not objected to, they result in registration and gain a legal right of use. After this point, only by filing an administrative invalidation lawsuit against the similar trademark can only be removed from the registry with a more costly and long-lasting legal struggle.
As a result, it is an important strategy to meticulously scan 2 brand bulletins per month and 24 per year in our country and to object to similar ones for a period of time, against the loss of value of your brand by watering down. As YALIN PATENT, we provide our clients with comprehensive trademark monitoring and objection services.