Protecting IP
Section 3
Trade Marks
Some practical tips to help protect your trade marks are set out below:
Practical tips
Consider in which countries you would want to
protect your trade mark – i.e. where would the
products or services be sold or used?
Have a look on the Trade Marks section of the UK
Intellectual Property Office website (www.ipo.gov.uk).
Click on 'Trademarks' and then 'Online TM Services'
then 'Find Trade Marks' then 'By mark text or image'.
You can then have a look to see if there are any
similar or identical trade marks already registered.
The same website contains details on how to register
a trade mark. Contact your IP commercialisation
organisation – they may be able to put you in contact
with a Trade Mark Agent to help with the process.
™
®
Use the ™ symbol when your trade mark is
unregistered.
Use the ® symbol when the trade mark is registered.
DO NOT do this before it is registered. It can be a
criminal offence to do so!
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