Time For A Trademark Audit?

• Published date: 02 April 2024
• Subject Matter: Accounting and Audit, Intellectual Property, Audit, Trademark
• Law Firm: Novagraaf Group
• Author: Nicolas Maes

Undertaking a regular trademark audit ensures your brand portfolio remains relevant and robust in a rapidly changing market. Nicolas Maes explains the role of auditing in strategic brand portfolio management, including how pruning can make you prosper.

Companies need to evolve to remain competitive and relevant in a fast-changing market, and the same applies to their brand assets. As technology advances, consumer preferences change, and global and local economic landscapes shift, trademark and design portfolios risk being left behind if they are not periodically reviewed and updated as business strategies adapt. A regular trademark audit provides the discipline and methodology needed to keep brand portfolios aligned with overall business priorities, thereby ensuring companies maintain competitive advantage and maximise growth opportunities.

Four reasons to undertake a trademark audit

There are several reasons why an audit of your brand portfolio is an essential step for success:

• You may be launching new products or services with new branding;
• You may be rebranding your business or products;
• You may have expanded the goods or services you use with your current brands; and/or
• You may have expanded, reduced or ceased your activities in some overseas markets.

Each trademark in your portfolio represents an investment of time and resources to manage and maintain. With a trademark audit, you can identify those rights that offer a return on that investment to your business today and those rights which have become obsolete...