Trade mark glossary
Trademark Glossary
There are numerous technical terms in trademark law. We explain these in our Trademark Glossary.
Term | Main definition |
---|---|
Design mark | see three-dimensional mark |
Design patent | see Design |
Design protection | Design protection is available for two- dimensional or three-dimensional designs of a product. |
Destruction | Trademark owners can assert various claims against an infringer, including the destruction of the products that infringe their trademark. |
Distinctive character | Distinctive character means that the mark can identify the goods/services as coming from a particular business in such a way that they can be distinguished from goods/services of other businesses. |
Domain | is, simply put, an address on the Internet. It frequently contains the company name or a trademark. |
DPMA | German Patent and Trade Mark Office, which is competent in particular for national German trademark applications. |
Duration | see Protection period or Processing time |
EUIPO | European Union Intellectual Property Office headquartered in Alicante, Spain. |
European Union Trade Mark | A registered European Union Trade Mark enjoys protection in all EU Member States. Only one application to EUIPO is required. |
Exclusive right | Trademark law monopolizes the registered trademark in favor of the trademark owner. Trademark owners decide who may use their trademark and they may prohibit any third party from using their trademark. |
Exclusivity agreement | If there is a conflict between your trademark and an older or younger sign, it may be resolved by an exclusivity agreement. |
Exhaustion | Trademark owners cannot prohibit the use of their trademark by third parties for products which have been put on the market with their consent within the Member States of the European Union or in another state which is a party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area since the trademark right is then exhausted. |
Fast Track | If an application is filed for an EU Trade Mark for goods/services listed in a database of accepted terms, it will be published in half the time or even faster using the EUIPO Fast Track procedure. If possible, we always prepare a list of goods and services for you, which leads to the application of the fast track procedure. |
Fees | The Trademark Office charges official fees for various services, including the examination of a trademark application or the renewal of a trademark’s term of protection. |
Figurative mark | designates a two-dimensional mark showing exclusively graphic elements, i.e., images, figurative elements, or illustrations (without word elements). |
Goods and services | When applying for a trademark, the goods and services for which the trademark is to be registered must be specified. The goods and services must be arranged according to classes. These should be the goods and services for which the trademark is to be used. |
Grace period for use | After the deadline has expired, third parties may request the trademark owner to prove genuine, right-preserving use of the trademark by way of appropriate documents (referred to as defense of use objection). Where trademark owners do not succeed in (fully) proving this, their trademark will be (partially) canceled. |
Holograms | Holograms are three-dimensional images with a deep impression. They regularly have a silvery, rainbow-colored shimmering surface and are generally registrable as trademarks. There are special requirements for the application documents that need to be submitted. |
Information | Trademark owners may request information from a trademark infringer, such as about the distribution channel or purchase prices (trademark infringement). |
Infringer’s profit | The trademark owner can assert various claims against an infringer, including damages in the amount of the profit the infringer has made from the trademark infringement. |
Intellectual property right | In the field of intellectual property rights, intellectual property rights include trademarks, designs, patents, utility models, plant variety rights, semiconductor protection, and copyright. |
Intellectual property rights | Intellectual property rights serve the protection of intellectual property and refer to the protection of an industrially exploitable service and the protection of commercial trademarks. |
International Trademark | The system of the International Trademark achieves trademark protection for a trademark that already exists as a national trademark or as a European Union Trade Mark by a single application in different countries. |
IR Brand | “IR” stands for International Registration; see International Trademark |
For additional information see our FAQ or our Trademark Glossary.
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or any other issues relating to intellectual property rights.
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