Dangers Of Using Unregistered Trademarks And Benefits Of Registration

What is a trade mark? Different authorities have given the meaning of a trademark. The Trademarks Act 2010 of Uganda defines a trademark to mean: a sign or mark or combination of signs or marks capable of being represented graphically and capable of distinguishing goods or services of one undertaking from those of another undertaking.

For every successful and time tested corporate brand (trademark), that everyone wants to associate with, behind the scenes, a lot of effort and resources have been sunk into intricate trademark development and aggressive protection. Company brands and trademarks are amongst a company's valuable assets. A study done by the UK's IP office reveals that an estimated 6% of most company investments are spent in company brand protection.

Branding starts and centers around your use of distinctive images, symbols, colors and styles, and caricatures, which most appropriately separate and preposition your goods, or services as unique from others on the same market, giving both a protection to your customers and also acquiring brand image and build up brand loyalty amongst your consumers.

Dangers of using unregistered trademarks

Until a name or logo is registered as a trademark, you cannot be certain that it belongs to you. If another person or business registers the mark first, you may find yourself in the highly inconvenient and very costly position of becoming embroiled in litigation and potentially having to withdraw your products, redesign your packaging and marketing literature, and pay damages or an account of profits to the registered trademark owner. Besides the quantifiable costs, you could also risk any goodwill that you may have established in the brand name over the years, over a product that you have painfully taken years to create, just because you didn't take the extra step of registering it.

Available research from world intellectual property organisation shows that over 80% of SMEs fail to register their trademarks. The majority think that it is not important to their business, with others citing lack of time, lack of understanding of the process of registration and costs associated with registration. By failing to register their trademarks, these businesses are not only damaging their brands and reputation, but also put their businesses at risk and in the end, loose out in the market battle.

Benefits of trademark registration

When you register your trademark, you ensure that you are in a position to...