About trademarks

Trademark types

• word: formed by the words, numerals or by the combination of characters, numerals or words
• figuratives: formed by the graphic elements, combined or not with the word element
• colours: the trademark can be formed by the colour itself
• sound marks
• three-dimensionals
• smell trademarks

The territorial scope of protection

• national trademarks: valid in one country
• Community trademark: valid in the whole EU
• international trademarks: the protection of the national trademark can be extended to other selected countries (in those countries the trademark acquires the same protection as a national trademarks)

The purpose of the trademark registration

• defense against an improper use of the sign or of the company name, by the third party
• identification of the origin of goods and services

Rights of the trademark holder

• an exclusive right to use the trademark for labelling the registered goods or services
• right to use the symbol ® together with the trademark
• right to to prevent all third parties, who do not have his consent, from using in the course of trade the same or similar signs for identical or related goods and/or services as those protected by the CTM
• the period of protection is 10 years from submitting the application (can be periodically renewed)