Are us trademarks valid in other countries [Expert Approved]

Last updated : Aug 22, 2022

Can you use a trademark name in a different country?

You may not register a trademark that describes the geographical location where the goods or services come from. Allowing you to use such place names as your trademark would mean you are the only one who can use the geographical place name, and that would be unfair to others who trade in that place.

How do I know if a trademark is international?

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) of Geneva regulates the registration, and it provides a database for international trademark search. This facility allows businesses operating globally to find existing trademark applications, statuses, and decisions within the international database.

Do Us trademarks apply in Mexico?

A trademark owner may be able to use its USPTO trademark application or registration as the basis for obtaining trademark protection in Mexico through the Madrid Protocol. Visit WIPO to file an international application . For more information, see WIPO's Amendments to the Mexican Industrial Property Law .

Do I need to trademark my business name internationally?

Though international registration isn't a requirement and you don't have to register a trademark to enjoy some intellectual property protections in the U.S., you may do so if you plan on doing business internationally. This includes selling products or services online to international customers.

Can you use the same name as a business in another country?

Legally, there should not be any issue with companies of the same name in different countries.

How do I get an international trademark?

You can file an international trademark application through the USPTO if: Your trademark is registered with the USPTO, or you have filed an application for registration; and. You are a national of, or domiciled in, the United States, or you have an industrial or commercial business in the United States.

Can you enforce a US trademark in Canada?

Are Trademarks in the U.S. protected in Canada? The protection of a registered trademark only extends to the jurisdiction in which it was registered; therefore, if your trademark is registered in the U.S., your trademark would only be protected in the U.S. and not in Canada.

How much does it cost to get an international trademark?

You can file online for international trademark registration through TEAS for a filing fee of $100 per trademark class. Under a treaty called the Madrid Protocol, international trademark registration protects your mark in the 80 countries that are signatories, of which the U.S. is one.

Can a trademark be protected in more than one country?

Can an applicant secure a trademark registration covering more than one country? Yes. Several international agreements make it possible to file a single application to register a mark in more than one jurisdiction.

How much does it cost to register a trademark in Mexico?

Apply to register your trademark in Mexico Note that you must file an individual application per Nice class. The payment of the respective fees is required for the application of a trademark in Mexico. These fees are around $200.00 USD per Nice class that is presented in your application.

How long do Trademarks last in Mexico?

Trademarks in Mexico are valid for ten years from the application date, and they can renew as many times as needed. You will need to file a trademark renewal and pay a renewal fee six months before or six months after the expiration.

Is Mexico a first to file trademark country?

Foreign companies must be aware that since Mexico is a first-to-file country, they must request the registration of their signs before using them in order to avoid facing an infringement action or a third party securing the same or a confusingly similar sign before them.

How do I protect my trademark internationally?

You can apply for international trademark protection by filing an MM2 form, which is available on the WIPO website. Then, you can submit a hard copy to the U.S. office. There are 113 countries that currently offer protection under the Madrid Agreement, including China, France, Italy, Australia and the European Union.

Can a UK company have the same name as a US company?

A company cannot have the same name as another registered company. Any company formation application or change of company name form containing a company name that is the 'same as' or 'too similar' to an existing name will be rejected by Companies House (the UK Registrar).

Can a US company have the same name as a Canadian company?

Generally, all businesses operating in Canada must comply with federal, provincial, and municipal laws regarding business names. In practice, what this means is that two businesses may very well have the same name.

Can 2 businesses have the same name in different states?

Two Businesses Can Have the Same Name in Different States Because naming rules are limited to one state, businesses formed in different states can have identical names.

Is a trademark valid worldwide?

Trademarks are granted on a territorial basis, and hence a trademark registered in India is not valid worldwide. Normally you would be required to undergo separate filing in each country where you intend to have your trademark protected.

How long does it take to register an international trademark?

Usually, the process takes 12 to 18 months. Registering your trademark is a complex procedure that involves your application moving through various stages. Learning about each stage in the process will help you understand why getting a trademark takes as long as it does.

How long does a trademark last?

A federal trademark lasts 10 years from the date of registration, with 10-year renewal terms. Between the fifth and sixth year after the registration date, the registrant must file an affidavit to state that the mark is still in use.

Can I use a logo from another country?

Being in a different country does not affect your copyright or trademark ownership. After purchasing your logo files, you become the owner and can do with them as you wish.

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the rules for registering a trademark are governed by the laws of the country in which the registration application is made and these rules differ from country to country thus companies must submit application forms to the central office of the countries in which they intend to operate in line with their established procedures now despite occasional differences many territories offer vastly similar processes and protections largely underpinned by international intellectual property agreements here are just some of the differences that will be encountered when registering a trademark in different territories United States of America America is one of the busiest territories for trademark registrations in the world US law stipulates that in order for a mark to be registered it must first be used in commerce in addition once the mark is registered you are under an obligation to maintain use of your mark if you intend to keep the brand active and avoid revocation ownership therefore does not rest merely upon registration but hinges upon the actual use of the brand Italy in Italy eight non registered mark it's still protected though the extent of this protection is lesser than afforded to a registered mark pursuant to the Civil Code trademark registration does not nullify the rights of those who have used it up till this point under certain conditions someone who proves that they have previously used a mark that another is seeking register has the right to continue to use it provided this is within the geographical and general limits of its previous use USA also has similar protections China Chinese legislation on the other hand only grants protection for Marx when they are actually registered the previous use of a brand therefore does not confer any rights of priority furthermore as in the USA Germany France and Japan the first-to-file principle applies whoever files the trademark application first acquires the ownership rights in China as well as other territories following the first-to-file principle it is essential to register well in advance of the effective start of business activity in order to ensure such use is protected moreover due to the lengthy waiting periods to obtain trademark protection anywhere from 18 months to 3 years and the fact that protection only subsists once registration has been obtained it is advised that businesses wishing to register mark in China allow plenty of time for protection to arise before entering the market now additionally Chinese law requires a translation if the mark is in a foreign language when doing so it is also strongly advised to register a corresponding version using Chinese characters both to avoid risks of counterfeit competitors and excluding your mark from a share of the market and therefore potential customers unlike many other systems China also requires that a separate application is made for each class of goods or services the trademark is to be registered with regards to this requirement increases both the time and expenditure for registration of a mark Brazil Brazil also requires that each registration in a class of goods or services to be completed on a new application form again increasing time and cost expenditure a Raziel adheres to the first-to-file principle meaning registration of the mark is necessary for protection further requirements of trademark registration in brazil are that the mark must be capable of being visually perceptible therefore unconventional marks such as sounds and smells are incapable of registration in Brazil now Brazilian law just like UK and EU law also stipulates that if a mark has not been put to bonafide use within five years of registration being granted the mark may be subject to revocation India in India marks which are considered by the authorities to be contrary to public order or good morals are deceptive or offensive and they're not capable of registration many other territories have such a clause including the United Kingdom however due to the multitude of religions and beliefs present throughout India it is a viable that businesses wishing to register their brands in this territory carry out prior analysis in this vein if upon publication of a register mark a person wishes to file for opposition on any grounds they must do so within four months with the opportunity to apply for a one-month extension when it comes to supplying evidence of the reason for opposition this potential extension on the time for opposition means that a time taken to register of mark may increase the USPTO the EU registration allows for a trademark to be registered in all EU states current and future with one single application form on one set of fees the European intellectual property office EU IPO receives applications from all over the globe and a pom registration allows trademark holders to exercise their exclusive rights in all 28 territories the advantages in pursuing an EU registration with regard to time and money and expenditure need not be explored any further white Bois wider than EU registration is the World Intellectual Property Office International registration referred to as the Madrid system this registration process enables businesses to file one international application from their country of origin and one language paying only one set of fees yet the mark is capable of being registered in any of the 104 members which are party to the Madrid agreement this international registration process entails access to the same protection that the laws of member countries confer upon national trademarks please feel free to watch more of our videos to get valuable insights about the mechanics of applying for trademark registrations defending your marks opposing other conflicting marks dealing with office actions and many other intellectual property issues my name is Jonathan Morton and I'm a u.s. licensed attorney I'm a partner with the law firm of Morton and associates and a member of the trade markers Network thank you for watching

Thanks for your comment Minh Mickulskis, have a nice day.
- Dominick Cashett, Staff Member

hello this is kevin thompson and i'm an attorney with the davis mcgrath locc here in chicago and i could welcome to all to our davis McGrath IP webinar series our today's webinar for September 7 2011 is called why you should register your trademarks in other countries and today we'll be going for about 30 minutes and certainly all throughout if you have questions please raise your hand through the webinar and we'll be able to get to your questions will certainly also have time at the end for questions as well are currently scheduled next webinar as October fifth I believe that our next topic is copyright basics and so I'm looking forward to doing that as well so let's go ahead and get started trademark basics I'm going to presume that people are generally familiar with the United States system for purposes of this presentation but just in basics of trademarks or symbols that are used in commerce to identify the source of particular goods or services and these can be words or designs or words with designs and these particular symbols can have great economic value in what separates trademarks from other forms of intellectual property is that trademarks as long as you're using them and still using them in commerce for the services they can last in perpetuity as opposed to copyrights and patents which do expire for purposes of today's discussion I'm going to present you with a hypothetical and this involves a manufacturer with the United States registrations for a design mark in a word mark and these particular products are sold worldwide but primarily throughout the US Canada in Europe but of concern is that this product is manufactured in China and so the question is what types of protection would be available trademark rights once you keep in mind our territorial just because you've got a United States registration doesn't mean you're protected throughout the world every country has its own regulations should also mention that it's important to search your mark before proceeding meanings for marks can vary from country to country for example the chevrolet nova they learned pretty quickly on that the word translated from nova translated into spanish as no-go so it's important to keep that in mind when you're considering a mark that might be used in other countries but every country has its own regulations so it's important to keep in mind when you're trying to protect your mark somewhere to keep in mind what options are available why should you register your mark in a foreign country and they're essentially two reasons one is for offensive purposes and the second is for defensive purposes for offensive purposes you might want to oppose somebody else's more or see to cancel somebody else's registration but it's a primary purpose would be defensive i believe and that would be to block others from registering marks that are similar to your own and also allows you to maintain control over your brand there are plenty of stories of nefarious distributors who have registered clients marks in foreign countries and therefore made it almost impossible for a client to switch distributors at a certain point because you know it was the distributor they don't own the electoral property not the manufacturer another thing to keep in mind is that if you register your trademark in particular country you also may be able to register that mark with their particular customs and so for example the United States you can register your your mark with with the US Customs and they will help go through shipments that are coming into the United States for trademark protection and might alert you to a shipment of you know infringing goods so how are rights obtained and essentially there are two major ways this is done across the world one is simply by registration in the second is by use in the United States we do have you spaced of rights but here's an example of a registration certificate I just threw that up there is an example of what a registration certificate looks like but many countries are was known as first-to-file jurisdictions in that the first person to register their mark with the particular authority owns the rights and so it's really hard for a late comer to object if someone has already registered your mark there and does not you know want you two to have protection for your own mark if they're blocking you and your late comer you'll need to want to check with counsel to see what your options are the second way as we said before is by use in the United States you have what are called common law rights by using your mark in commerce and federal registration gives you additional benefits such as rights across the United States but if you're though the prior user and you come across a registration that you your your the prior user for you might be able to cancel it depending on the facts another thing I should talk about briefly is what's called Paris Convention and it's a way of getting priority in a foreign country based on your your us filing let's say you file a mark here in the United States and you want to protect that mark in other countries as well you don't have to hurry out and and register the market and all these other jurisdictions right away instead what you can do is wait until the end of the the Paris Convention period which is six months from the US filing date and then as long as you claim this Paris Convention priority in your application in the foreign jurisdiction you have the same effective filing date as when you filed here in the United States and it is quite effective if you are able to do so when you are trying to register your mark in a foreign country you essentially have three major options one is direct filing the second would be a regional registration such as the community trademark system that's effect across the European Union and then the third is called the Madrid system and I'll talk about each of those in turn direct filing is hiring council in one particular jurisdiction say you want to register your mark in Japan and so you would hire Japanese counsel to register your mark there it's it's effective and it works but it gets kind of difficult if you are trying to register your mark and in multiple jurisdictions you know to keep track of of that and that's something that you know council can do for you second option is regional registration and there is a system that covers the European Union here's a map of that the European Union in this part is yellow and as we'll discuss later there are certain countries in Europe that are not members of the European Union so if you want protection in those countries you would you know be forced to file directly it's not the only a regional system out there but it's certainly the one that most people know about the advantages of the this particular system will talk about later when we we talk at specific X talk about our hypothetical the Madrid system is a system that the u.s. recently became part of it in last 10 years or so it allows you to create what's called an international registration is based on your home registration in the United States and then you you create what'

Thanks Carmella your participation is very much appreciated
- Dominick Cashett

About the author

Dominick Cashett

I've studied pharmaceutical policy at Morris College in Sumter and I am an expert in soil physics. I usually feel rushed. My previous job was hotel manager I held this position for 11 years, I love talking about skiing and backpacking. Huge fan of Beverly D���Angelo I practice equestrian: dressage and collect stock and bond certificates.