You have worked hard to establish your brand, and have invested time, money, and creativity into creating an identity for your business or product.  Your trademark, which can be a logo, a name, a tag line, or even a taste or a smell, distinguishes your product or business from its competitors, and is key to your success.  To protect yourself from others copying or infringing on your unique business or product, you must register your trademark. Call our Thornhill, Ontario office today at 905-597-8529.

How Complicated is the Process ?

Registering a trademark can be quite complicated. First, an extensive search must be undertaken to ensure that your trademark is in fact unique, and that it has not been used or registered by another entity.  This search process can be lengthy, and it must be accurately done, to protect your investments, of time and of money. Filing your application with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) I the next step.  Once the application has been filed it be will be reviewed by an examiner who will review the application search for any already-registered marks that are found to be too similar. If there are any errors in the application, or if there are trademarks found that are confusingly close, the application will have to be revised. Mistakes in the application process are both costly and time consuming.  A lawyer from K&Y Law will quickly and accurately complete your application, leaving you free to create and grow your business. We are committed to making this process not only successful, but also stress-free.

Are There Limits on What Can Be Trademarked?

Trademarks can be granted for one or a combination of words, colors, sounds, tastes, textures, moving images, scents, three-dimensional shapes, holograms, or forms of packaging.  Things that cannot be trademarked include a first or a last name, descriptive or deceptive words or marks, marks that refer to the place of origin of your product or service, marks that are too similar to those already registered or in the process of being registered, and marks that are the name of the goods and/or services that the mark is representing.

Do I Have to Register My Trademark Every Year?

Registering your trademark grants you its exclusive use, and also gives you a method of enforcement if your trademark is used or copied by someone else. Registration establishes you as the owner of your trademark, and only has to be renewed once every ten years. Assuming that you have continuously used the trademark in an appropriate way, and that you do the renewal paperwork every ten years, there is no limit on the duration of your ownership of the trademark.  Registering your trademark with the help of a lawyer from K&Y Law, P.C. protects your trademark from infringement for as long as you want to use it. Call us today at 905-597-8529!