Trademark Protection Abroad

A brand is developed so that consumers will recognize the product, most often by its name and image. Legal protection of trademarks is mainly based on the fact of registration, although there are exceptions. In the USA, for example, it is sufficient to prove the fact of its commercial use. In Russia, the right to trademark arises legally only after its registration. A trademark is protected only in the territories of the countries where it was registered. Currently, there is no possibility to register a trademark in such a way that it would be protected all over the world at the same time. There is not yet a single worldwide rules for the registration of trademarks, there is no single body for the implementation of legal protection, but there are common to most countries in this legislative area. There is the possibility of registering a trademark in each country separately, or by filing an application under one of the international agreements.

Agreements for international trademark protection

1. The Madrid Agreement was concluded in 1891. More than 100 countries are included, with protection by means of a single application for several states at once. In addition to a single basic fee to cover the costs of the registration office, a separate fee is payable for each of the States claimed. The same applies to each class of the ICS. However, registration in several countries at once is noticeably simplified in this way.
2. The Singapore Treaty was concluded in 2006 and entered into force in 2009, it includes more than 25 countries, the coverage of the states in both treaties overlaps only in part. Russia is a member of both agreements.

Non-traditional trademarks

It is possible to register not quite ordinary trademarks. For example, olfactory - odors. Any trademark, according to the EU legislation, has to be represented graphically. But here there is a difficulty with their graphic representation in such a way that it is possible to distinguish them from each other, to cut off the resemblance to the point of confusion by description. In Russia, the first registration application was filed for "smell of freshly sliced garlic" and it was rejected primarily because of the lack of distinguishing features. However, for example: in the United States, the plant odor of plumeria was registered for the designation of decorative threads, and in Australia, the eucalyptus odor for golf paraphernalia.

The company that makes Lamborghini cars has registered a unique door movement as a moving designation. Graphically, this combination of movements looks like several consecutive frames.

There are sound TK, tactile (the velvet surface of a bottle in the United States), positional (the red color of Louboutin shoes only on the sole). Holographic, volumetric, combined TK are already more common in today's world.