Protect your intellectual property – register trademark with the support of Griffiths + Associates.

Are you a small or medium-sized Maltese company looking for a Trademark Registration? Did you know that you now may apply for an EU grant covering expenses related to that?

Griffiths + Associates, within the framework of legal supporting start-ups, will help you!

Professional assistance with all Malta trademark requirements
Efficient application process for the trademark registration and EU funding
Complete support from our Intellectual Property expert

Now let us discuss why a trademark registration is a necessity, not a luxury.

Running a company is a multifaceted and demanding task that involves managing a variety of different aspects of business, such as financial management, sales and marketing, customer service, and product or service development. And one aspect that is too often forgotten is security of the company and its intellectual property. Now we are not talking about physical security measures nor GDPR.

Ask yourself, how many entrepreneurs realize that their brand can someday become their most valuable asset and the best way to protect it is to have a registered trademark. Be assured, irrespective of how big or small your business is, it’s a worthwhile investment.

Let’s us discuss why.

Legal Protection

Once you have a trademark, you now have the liberty to conduct business freely.

If you don’t have a trademark, there’s a chance that conflicts may arise as someone in a foreign jurisdiction could register the exact name (or a similar one) before you do.

In such an instance, you may not have leverage should legal proceedings arise because, technically, they legally registered the name/mark. And most legal disputes unfold exactly in this manner and this might create issues across-the-board.

Brand Value

According to ISO standards (10668:2010), registered trademarks are one of three components attributing to your brand value.
Your brand name is an intangible asset. It’s hard to measure how much a brand is worth, but a credible trademark boosts a business value as the brand grows.

First, this is good for establishing business partnerships, especially when we are talking about growing through franchising. This form of a global expansion strategy is based on collecting royalties for the company’s know-how and the licence to operate under the renowned brand. Trademark registration enhances the level of franchisees’ confidence as well as enhances the company’s value.

Second, trademark registration is also increasingly becoming a key requirement for obtaining funding, such as from investors via private equity or crowdfunding platforms.

Third, it may also help you gain leverage in negotiations if you’re undergoing a merger.
Fourth, a valuable trademark could increase the selling price if you want to sell your business.

Online World and Enhanced Trademark Protection

The online world in which we live means that products are reaching global audiences and consumers far quicker than ever before. This has not only increased the value of a good brand but also exposes it to potential threats in the form of copycats, counterfeiters and trade mark ‘squatters’.

Owning a registered trade mark gives you access to greater protection from infringement on online selling platforms such as Amazon and social media sites; such as Facebook and Instagram. On these platforms, a registered trade mark provides grounds for requesting ‘takedowns’ and is a requirement for access to Amazon’s online brand registry.

A registered trademark also can be used to quickly resolve a hosting domain dispute, mitigating the risk of cybersquatting and ensuring that competitors cannot benefit from relying on similar commercial impression. Several domain hosting providers, such as GoDaddy, have already introduced automated conflict resolution mechanisms for trademark owners, providing a highly convenient way of resolving these potential issues.

A similar argument applies to social media, with Facebook, Twitter and Youtube also providing automated conflict resolution processes to ensure that the desired account name for a registered trademark holder cannot be occupied by opportunistic individuals.

Google, as well as other search engines, provide automatic conflict resolution for suspected cases of trademark infringement. In practical terms, a registered trademark grants its owner an exclusive right to use the given keyword among search terms as well as product / service description, effectively discouraging any competitive tactics that seek to derive value from the good reputation of a given brand.

As we mentioned at the beginning, you may apply for an EU grant “The Ideas Powered for business SME Fund”.

The Fund may cover the following expenses to Maltese companies: it’s basically application fees via WIPO, ARIPO or Maltese IP office for International, EU or MT trademarks as well as the IP report). Details are as follows:

Trade mark or design protection – VOUCHER 2

Remark:

Please note that trademark and design are not the same but the registration application process is similar and the fund covers both.

A trademark means a mark that represents the goods or services provided by an entity or an individual. It can be a logo, word, etc.

A design refers to only the features of a shape, pattern, or ornamentation applied to an article to have a visual appeal.

Up to € 1 000 per beneficiary for:

trade mark or design protection within the EU (national, regional, EU levels).

Eligible IP rights are trade marks and designs filed directly and electronically (where possible) at the EUIPO and at MS IPOs.

Respecting the principle of co-financing of the European Commission’s Programmes, eligible EU SMEs can apply for a 75 % reimbursement of the trade mark and design fees for acquiring trade mark or design protection in the EU (including application, class, examination, registration, publication and deferment of publication fees). IP rights similar to trade marks are included depending on applicable legislation (e.g. logotype protection under Portuguese law is covered).

trade mark or design protection outside of the EU.

To support EU SMEs’ growth on a more international scale, the eligible fees for international trade mark and design administered by WIPO may be reimbursed by up to 50 %. This activity intends to extend the support currently offered to EU SMEs, assisting them in the internationalisation process, while boosting the innovation and competitiveness of EU SMEs globally.

The fees subject to reimbursement are the fees charged for applications (including basic fees, designation fees and subsequent designation fees) under:

– the international trade mark system (Madrid System);

– the international design system (The Hague System).

Designation fees of EU countries are excluded, as well as the handling fees charged by the office of origin. Designation fees of the European Union are excluded since they are managed directly at the EUIPO, by submitting an EUTM or an RCD application.

Call submission period: to 08/12/2023

Who can get the voucher: small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) established in one of the EU Member States (definition according the Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003).

To make written above clearer, let’s look on examples:

if a simple Malta application rounds €160, so the SAME grant would fund around €120 (75% of €160)
if a simple EU application costs around €900, so the SME grant would cover €675 (75% of €900)
if a simple international application (outside of the EU) costs around ₣900, so the SME grant would cover ₣450 (50% of ₣900)
if a simple international application (outside of the EU) costs around ₣5,000, in this case the SME grant would not cover 50% as the SME grant limited to no more than €1,000.

The cost of the application (Swiss francs (CHF) currency) can be calculated using Madrid System Fee Calculator

https://madrid.wipo.int/feecalcapp/

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Our company’s mission – to provide quality financial services to our esteemed local and international clients, keeping their needs at the centre of our ethos; going the extra mile to efficiently and effectively assist them in growing and fulfilling their business and personal needs.