The Brand Rights Health Check helps you identify the gaps in the exclusive rights related to the ownership of brand elements and focus your efforts on the things that matter most to your business.
Start the Brand Rights Health Check
Your company invests in sales, marketing and partnerships. But how comprehensively does your company own the brand names, logos and other brand elements that are important to your business through registrations of brand rights?
Brand rights are not just the registration of a logo or a single task of law. They are strategic assets, the management of which should accompany product and service development, internationalisation and the building of a partner network. The Brand Rights Health Check looks at the big picture: what registered rights the company already owns, to what extent brand ownership requires acquiring complementary brand rights, and how the rights are taken care of in everyday life.
Start with the brand names your business relies on
In addition to the main brand, a company may have commercially important product and service names, i.e. sub-brands. It may not be appropriate to use as many resources to ensure ownership of all with brand rights. The most important names must be identified and ranked in order of commercial importance.
In the case of a new main brand name, a trademark search and preliminary examination should be carried out before the final selection is made. It is used to determine whether a previous similar brand name can prevent the use or registration of the intended name and whether the name meets the requirements for trademark registration. The same examination is also necessary for new sub-brands.
Do brand rights cover the right countries, products, and services?
Brand rights are territorial rights. Therefore, registrations must be viewed in relation to where the company operates: where products and services are marketed or sold, where products are manufactured, and where local distributors or agents operate.
Geographical coverage alone is not enough. The list of goods and services for trademark registration must correspond to the company's offering. When the business expands into new products or services, the need to acquire additional rights should also be assessed.
Check which brand elements your company owns. The brand name, the logo, and the figurative elements used without words are separate brand elements that can be owned with brand right registrations. It is also worth investigating the possibilities of registering and owning commercially important and distinctive slogans, colours, and product and packaging designs with brand rights. If the look of the logo changes significantly, assess the need for a new trademark application.
Agree with partners on the use of brand elements
When distributors, resellers and other partners use a company's logos and other brand elements in their own operations, partner agreements should clearly define who owns the brand rights and under what conditions the partner may use them.
In addition to contracts, practical guidelines are needed, especially for the use of trademarks. Graphic guidelines describe what the elements of the brand look like, but the correct use of names and other trademarks also needs guidelines. Employees and partners should know which trademarks and brand elements are used and in what form. Compliance with the guidelines must also be monitored, because improper use in particular weakens the legal force of trademark rights.
Remember domains and ongoing monitoring
It's a good idea to review the domains of your main brand and key standalone brand names as a whole. Do you have control over the global and country-specific extensions that are relevant to your business? Proactive registration helps ensure that important domains are available to your business.
Registration does not end the management of brand rights. Trademark and domain name watch can detect similar new applications and logos that weaken the legal force and commercial value of one's own brand rights. In addition, it is necessary to monitor how competitors use brand elements that may infringe the company's rights. Based on the findings, the necessary actions are assessed, such as opposing the trademark application or intervening in infringing use.
Make brand rights management a management routine
A clear person in charge of brand rights and a connection to the company's decision-making are needed. When the brand rights portfolio is reviewed regularly, it is possible to identify missing registrations, unnecessary overlaps and disused brand elements. At the same time, it is checked whether the rights on which the brand ownership is based correspond to the current business and plans for the near future.
Evidence material on the use of trademarks should be archived systematically. For example, invoices, brochures, advertisements and trade fair images are necessary when the use of the mark is to be demonstrated. Material should be accumulated from different years and the markets where the mark is used.
What is the status of your company's brand rights?
Start the brand rights health check with these questions:
- Have preliminary studies, i.e. trademark searches, been carried out on the most important brand, product and service names?
- Do registrations cover relevant brand elements, countries, and products and services?
- Do you own the most important domain names?
- Do agreements with partners include principles regarding the ownership of brand rights and the use of brand elements?
- Has your company provided instructions on the use of trademarks and ensured that the instructions are followed?
- Is there a person responsible for reviewing the brand rights portfolio, collecting evidence of use and taking the necessary actions?
If the answers remain unclear, the next step is to form an overall picture. You don't have to do everything at once: the most important thing is to identify the shortcomings that are essential to the business and prioritize corrective actions.
Start the Brand Rights Health Check
Do you want to find out if owning your brand with brand rights supports the growth of your company? Contact us and book a free consultation on the situation of your brand rights.
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