Trademarks

Trademark identifies companies in the global market as element of quality and reliability guarantee for consumers. Because of its relevance, trademark cannot remain unprotected.

Trademark registration allows the title owner to protect his company and to acquire further exclusive rights that authorize to prevent unauthorised use of the same (or similar) trademark by third parties (conflicting trademark). Registration is valid for ten years and it is renewable to infinity for ten years in ten years. In the event of non-renewal, the rights to the trademark expire. To obtain trademark protection you can register it in Italy, via the Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi (UIBM), or regionally by filing a European Union Trademarks (EUTM), which grants protection in the whole EU.

Non-registered trademark exposes an entrepreneur to the risk of loss of recognisability, business reputation, and investments made for achieve them in the global market. Dearth of own trademark registration allows competitors to use identical (or similar) trademarks which could create confusion among consumers; this could encourage consumers to buy goods and services from different companies instead of the company which originally used the trademark. These events could originate unfair advantages for competitors, damages to company’s public image and to its reputation as well as a decrease of sales volume.