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My clients have been calling me recently and emailing me FAKE trademark registration invoices from Africa, Budapest and Eastern Europe. They have also been emailed by Chinese trademark companies demanding payment for infringement or registration of their business name or services brand, the letter warning if they don’t pay they will lose their rights to […]
Recently more of our enquiries have been along the lines “I need help, I have just received a letter from a company saying they own a trademark and if I don’t cease to use our business name on our website and brochures, they want to take us to court as we are infringing on their […]
Over recent months, our firm has been dealing with clients who have attempted to trademark their brand themselves and have not been successful. In some cases, they were the cause of their disastrous attempt to obtain trademark protection. Of course you could read all about trademarks and the government IP body in each country is super […]
Many of our clients assume that they only require one trademark to protect their business brand. That is not always necessarily true, because when you apply for a trademark you need to identify the classes of protection you require for the word or the logo. In Australia and New Zealand, there are forty-five classes in […]
Trademarks can be considered a significant expense, especially for small businesses and start-ups. However, there is a good chance you could end up spending a lot more money if you don’t register them. Before we go any further, let’s just get clear on what a trademark is and why it is important. A registered trademark legally […]
In 2015 any debate as to whether there are obligations to act in Good Faith within the franchising industry ended with the Franchising Code of Conduct (the main law regulating franchising in Australia) expressly confirming Good Faith exists in franchising and cannot be excluded or limited. The obligation to act in Good Faith applies before, […]
Given a franchise group’s brand may be one of its most valuable assets, franchisors should be continually reviewing its own and its franchisees activities to ensure that the franchisor is actively managing and protecting its brand. There are a number of steps franchisors can take to protect their brand, some of these include a Franchisor […]
When dealing with a franchise network, people will not often distinguish between different franchised businesses, but instead think of one overall business. Franchising as a business format encourages the above view. Most franchise systems seek to ensure that every existing or potential customer can generally expect to experience the same consistent products and/or services irrelevant […]
With the United Kingdom(UK) public voting to leave the European Union (EU) last month, many European Union (EU) registered trademark owners have been wondering what will happen to their trademark protection as the result of this momentous event. Most EU expert commentators estimate that the divorce between Britain and the European Union will be finalised […]
Given one of the essential assets of many businesses, particularly those operating within the franchising industry is their business’s trade name and logo/s, it cannot be underestimated how important it is to ensure the relevant name/s and logo/s have been sufficiently legally protected. Over the years I have seen many people believe that if they […]
