[Part 8 of our Brand Rights blog series]

For a large number of companies, the brand constitutes a significant part of the company's value and is therefore a strategic intangible asset. A good tool for planning brand protection and allocating investments in trademarks and other brand rights is to categorize brand names and other brand elements into different groups based on their importance.

As part of a company's protection strategy, brand names and other value-creating brand elements should be prioritized based on their commercial value, longevity, and registrability. These can be categorized into groups, such as A, B, and C.

Categorizing trademarks and other brand rights is practically helpful when a company seeks to enhance the recognition and value of its key brand elements and ensure the strongest possible intellectual property (IP) protection for them through registered trademarks, domain names, design rights, and copyrights.

Conversely, it is sensible for a company to minimize protection costs for brand elements that are short-lived, have low distinctiveness, or are otherwise commercially less valuable. In practice, the more important a brand element is, the more resources should be allocated to its protection and the acquisition of brand rights.

The main brand belongs in category A 

Typically, the main brand, which is often also the company's name, falls into the most important category, A. The main brand is protected as comprehensively as possible against intentional and unintentional imitation. The main brand encompasses all the goods and services offered by the company.

Other important brand names, i.e. trademarks, as well as domain names, designs, and copyright-protected content may also belong to the top A category. What A-category brand elements have in common is that exclusive rights to these commercially important elements are sought as broadly as possible through registrations. This means not only extensive geographical coverage in all countries where the company markets and sells products or services or manufactures products, but also comprehensive protection in all relevant product and service classes. The selected trademark classes and the goods and services specified under them determine the scope and extent of protection, and naturally, the number of classes also affects the cost of trademark registration.

Sub-brands belong in category B 

Category B includes other commercially important and long-lasting sub-brands. These are typically brand names or other brand elements used consistently and broadly for certain groups of products or services.

The aim is also to protect these brand elements by acquiring exclusive rights to them, but more narrowly than in category A. This means more limited geographic coverage and/or a narrower range of goods and services.

Unregistered brand elements fall into category C 

Category C includes brand elements for which no exclusive rights are available or for which registration protection is otherwise not pursued.

This category may include descriptive slogans used in marketing, the names of individual products/services, or unprotected designs. For these brand elements, it is only ensured that they can be used in business without infringing on the prior rights of others.

However, it is crucial for a company not to leave any highly distinctive and commercially valuable brand elements in category C. An unprotected but valuable brand element could later become a trade barrier in international markets if a competitor acquires exclusive rights to the same or a similar brand element.

Utilize trademark categories in protection planning 

Effectively protecting a company's trademarks and other brand elements requires careful grouping based on their importance and commercial value. Therefore, it is worth dedicating some time to these considerations.

In summary and as a basic guideline: Brand elements in category A, such as the main brand name, should be protected comprehensively as trademarks and domain names, with full available resources. Sub-brands in category B receive more limited protection. Less valuable or short-lived brand elements belonging to category C are often not registered.

By categorizing trademarks, it is ensured that the most important brand elements receive adequate protection, while also ensuring that investments in protection are made wisely and remain manageable.

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Read more

Register your trademark – don't rely on establishment [Part 7 of our Brand Rights Blog Series]

What does trademark distinctiveness mean and why is it important? [Part 6 of our Brand Rights Blog Series]

Protecting your trademark through registration [Part 5 of our Brand Rights blog series]

Trademark is the core of brand rights [Part 4 of our Brand Rights blog series]

Company name is not sufficient brand protection in international markets [Part 3 of our Brand Rights blog series]

Brand rights into brand value [Part 2 of our Brand Rights blog series]

Brand elements into brand rights [Part 1 of our Brand Rights blog series]