There are 201 countries in the world and unfortunately, there's no single worldwide trade mark. So if you were planning to own trade mark rights worldwide, then you're going to have to file an application in each individually… two-hundred-and-one times...  Don’t lose hope just yet. First of all, in reality there is no point filing in a country you aren't going to do business in. But if you do want to file in several different countries, there are a few options available.  One of these is to file an internal application if the countries of your choice are members of the Madrid System. The Madrid System is an international system that facilitates registration of trade marks in multiple jurisdictions around the world. Under this treaty, when you file a single application it secures protection for your trade mark in several countries. Here’s a link to the list of all the current member countries:   http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/treaties/en/documents/pdf/madrid_marks.pd...

  If, like me, you spend any time social networking, maybe sharing a new recipe or checking out a new gadget or car. Then you may have heard of  Pinterest  – the fast growing US photo sharing website that lets you and others pin photographs to a virtual board.  What you might not know, is  Pinterest  have lost their claim to a trademark in Europe.  Instead the EU trademark court ruled in favor of the current owners, a UK news site called  Premium Interest  who filed their TM in January 2012.  Pinterest will no doubt be appealing the decision, but since they can’t give any more evidence, we doubt the decision will change. What can entrepreneurs learn from this? 1)   Trademarks are national or territorial in character  Just because Pinterest has a US trademark, it doesn’t mean they have any rights or necessarily a prior claim in other countries. The only way to make sure you have defendable trademark rights is to register in...

 Me) So the clever marketing people at Google have decided to call the next Android Operating System KitKat. This after the current version was called Jelly Bean.  My wife) But isn't KitKat trademarked? I can see Jelly Bean is a type of sweet, not a brand, so anyone can use it and no one can trademark it. But KitKat? Me) Yes it is, Nestle is an enormous confectionary, food and other products company operating in probably all countries worldwide but for a troubled few. And they have trademarks registered for KitKat, which helped them beat Cadbury's in a recent dispute over the shape. My Wife) So if they'd wanted to Nestle could stop Google using the name KitKat Me) Yes if they'd wanted to Nestle probably could on the basis of being such a well known brand, even if they have registered it  as a trademark for confectionary and candies, and not for technology and software.   But here is the key point, more than one person can use and register the same trademark as long a...

  Trade Mark Direct were runners up in the Nominet awards category for Innovative Business. For a full list of those highlighted by the judges  click here

  We came second in the Innovative Internet Business category in the Nominet Internet Awards 2013.  “William C Bryant had it right when he observed "winning isn't everything but it beats anything in second place". So gutted not to have won, but congratulations to the firm that beat us,” said Mark Kingsley-Williams, Trade Mark Direct, founder and director. "To be publicly recognised for our work in making trade marks accessible to all businesses is satisfying and I also want to thank our great team who strive every day to make our company the best in the business'. The Nominet Internet Awards  celebrate the achievements and innovation of UK internet initiatives. The awards aim to showcase projects from UK businesses, charities, individuals and public and private sector organisations which help to make the internet a more secure, open, accessible and diverse experience for all. The full list of winners can be seen  here. *****

  Trade Mark Direct has been chosen by Microsoft to be profiled on its   website   as an earlier adopter of its cloud solution, Windows Azure. Founded five years ago and firmly established as the market leader in the UK, Trade Mark Direct is expanding rapidly in the UK and internationally.  Windows Azure offered an easy to scale, highly reliable platform on which to build cost-effectively, from our current visitor levels of 250,000 a year, while at the same time maintaining an excellent client experience. With our US launch last month, we're now offering our unique money back guarantee and excellent service to a market ten times the size of the UK.  Partnering with Microsoft provides us with a firm bedrock for future expansion.  Read the case study in full  here.

Trade Mark Direct , which provides high quality, low fee trade mark registration advice online from qualified attorneys, announced it has made the shortlist of entries for the prestigious Nominet Internet Awards 2013 in the Innovative Internet Business category.  The Nominet Internet Awards  celebrate the achievements and innovation of UK internet initiatives. The awards aim to showcase projects from UK businesses, charities, individuals and public and private sector organisations which help to make the internet a more secure, open, accessible and diverse experience for all. “We're chuffed to be shortlisted for the Nominet Internet Awards. The team work hard to give all our loyal clients excellent advice and support, and that so many rate our service highly and use us again and again has been key to our growth” said Mark Kingsley-Williams, director of Trade Mark Direct.   A panel of judges are due to select the winners, which will be announced at an awards ...

 Trade Mark growth, which some consider a good early indicator of economic expansion, shows the UK is leading trade mark growth in Europe according to a comparison compiled by Thomson Reuters.  Analysing published trademark activity from 186 countries and registrars, it found that amongst all countries worldwide the UK and Turkey showed the largest per cent increase in trade mark registrations with jumps of 10 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively. "The UK's trade mark registration figures show that UK businesses are still innovating and launching new products and services, despite the banking sector being in retreat and economic stagnation across much of Europe." said Mark Kingsley-Williams, director at Trade Mark Direct.  "As ever more business activity takes place online with customers and competitors only a click away companies recognise that brand protection through trademark registration has never been more important." China continues to dominate trademark...

 Our bid to cancel the EU trade mark registration for 'KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON' rumbles on. The trade mark registration gives the owner, Mr Mark Coop, trade mark rights in all EU countries over posters, clothing, household items and other merchandise. Mr Coop’s team have just requested a two month extension for submitting evidence, which will push back the timings and ultimately the resolution. “It’s been over a year since we started this action, and requesting a further two months is surprising,” said Mark Kingsley-Williams, Director at Trade Mark Direct.  “Given the strength of the case for cancellation some might see it simply as a tactic to delay the inevitable”. Mr Coop’s team have already had half a year to put together their case. "It's hard to imagine they'll unearth any favourable legal arguments or evidence now that they could not before," said Mark Kingsley-Williams. “We think it would have been better for Mr Coop and his reputation to have filed on ...

  Trade Mark Direct, the UK’s leading online trade mark company, won the UK Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award at the UK IT Industry Awards 2012 on 14 November 2012. Known as the Oscars of the IT world, the Awards are run by Computing magazine in association with BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT.   Computing Magazine describes the Awards as “the UK's most rigorously judged IT awards process”.  This year also saw a record breaking number of entries. Beating 12 finalists to the Award, Trade Mark Direct, based in Chiswick, West London, won due to its innovative concept, its measurable success and its high customer satisfaction rates. The founding idea behind Trade Mark Direct was to reduce the cost and uncertainty of trade mark registration by operating online using state of the art language search technology to deliver high quality advice from UK trade mark experts. “We’re proud to say that we’ve transformed the trade mark registration process and dragged it kick...