The Nice trade mark classification system, which groups together similar goods or services into 45 different classes, is applied by Intellectual Property Offices in many countries worldwide. All the goods are classified under Classes 1–34, while services are classified under classes 35–45.

So, which class should I file my trade mark application in? A good starting point is to ask yourself what goods and/or services your trade mark is intended to cover. Thereafter, you may consider looking at the applicable edition of the Nice Classification of Goods and Services. The Class Headings of the Nice Classification should provide you with a general idea of which class(es) are relevant to your trade mark application.

In the event you are still unable to find the answer you are looking for; an alternative is to conduct a trade mark search of a competitor’s (potential or otherwise) mark(s) to get some ideas about which class might be best suited for your application. Of course, the most efficient and convenient way to cover all bases in your application would be to engage a trade mark specialist.

The ® symbol stands for “Registered Trade Mark” and indicates that a mark has been registered.

The TM symbol stands for “Trade Mark” and does not mean that a trade mark is registered. It merely is a symbol to notify the public that the mark is being used as a trade mark.

A mark can still be used even if the application is still pending or has been refused. While a mark that has not be registered (e.g., no application was made to register the mark, the mark is still pending registration, the mark has been refused registration) will not enjoy rights conferred under statute, it may still be protected under common law (where applicable), such as through the tort of passing off.

(i) Submission of Trade Mark Application: The details of your trade mark application are prepared and submitted to the Intellectual Property Office. The applicant’s name and address, a clear graphical representation of your mark, and a list of goods/services that you are registering in relation to the mark are the bare minimum information required to proceed with a trade mark application.

(ii) Examination: The application will be reviewed by the Intellectual Property Office to ensure that it meets the formality requirement. Following that, the Registry will conduct a formal search for conflicting marks, geographical names, and compliance with the international classification of goods and services. The application will be examined to determine if the mark is registrable in accordance with the local trade mark laws. If there are any issues with your trade mark application, the Intellectual Property Office will send you an official notification. The issues must be resolved before your application can proceed to the publication stage.

(iii) Publication: If your application is accepted, it will be published in the Trade Marks Journal for public inspection for a specific time period prescribed by the trade mark rules/regulations of the country concerned (e.g., two months, in the case Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia). During this time, any interested party may oppose to the registration of your mark. If there is no opposition, your application will proceed to registration.

(iv) Registration: A certificate of registration will be issued to you by the Intellectual Property Office.

Trade mark registration is crucial not only for protecting but also for empowering your business. To begin, in a sea of competitors, a trade mark is a communication tool for your business to convey the idea and purpose of your marketed products and services. It assists them in recognising, identifying, and possibly selecting your products and services over those of your competitors.

Second, trade mark registration grants the owner exclusive rights and legal protection. As a result, registering your trade mark not only prevents others from stealing your brand, but it also prevents you from unintentionally infringing on the brand of your competitor, which could result in costly court cases and settlements.

Third, trade mark registration will make your brand’s digital marketing much more effective. Once you have obtained legal ownership of your trade mark, digital marketing becomes much easier because no one else can use your registered brand name on online platforms such as e-commerce sites or social media.

As the business grows and expands, successful trade mark registration in the country of your primary business operations will facilitate trade mark registration in other countries of interest. Furthermore, trade mark registration adds value to your business if you are considering franchising, licensing, or exiting your business at some point. Finally, trade mark registration provides inexpensive lifelong protection for your business branding. Once a trade mark is successfully registered, it is generally perpetually valid as long as it is renewed (in most countries, this needs to be done every ten years). A trade mark is an asset that increases the value of your company and brand over time and should not be overlooked.

In addition to the reasons stated above, failing to register your trade marks may subject you to a slew of unintended consequences. While trade mark registration is generally not mandatory (note however its critical importance in non-common law countries like Indonesia), having one provides a strong defence against “copy-cats.” A trade mark owner must demonstrate that they have rights to a trademark; for owners of registered trade marks, a registration certificate is often sufficient.

To demonstrate the rights to unregistered trade marks, on the other hand, businesses/trade mark owners generally must show that their use has resulted in the mark becoming sufficiently recognised; or, as we say in the trade mark world, “goodwill.” This requires businesses providing ample evidence to show that its mark has established goodwill in the marketplace, including, but not limited to, proof of longevity of use, the level of sales and advertising, the geographic scope of use, and recognition of the trade mark by the general public. As to whether there is sufficient goodwill, it is a question of fact that is dependent on both the quantity and quality of evidence that can be presented by the business owners.

When compared to a registered trade mark, which enjoys some presumption of rights in the first instance, the burden of proof in a common law action for passing-off is unquestionably higher. For example, a registered mark owner can successfully prove its trade mark right by submitting a certificate, whereas an unregistered mark owner must present abundant evidence to demonstrate that its mark is, in fact, a trade mark. As a result, trade mark registration is always highly recommended.

An invention is only patentable if it has not been disclosed to the public prior to the filing date of a patent. In other words, an invention is not patentable if an identical or similar solution has been made publicly available before a patent for the invention is filed. Since it can be pointless to pursue patent protection for an invention that is not inherently patentable to begin with, it is important to carry out a patentability search early in the patenting process. Uncovering relevant prior documents that describe inventions that are functionally similar to your invention early can improve the quality of the application as it would allow the patent agent to draft around the prior documents.

While cursory patentability searches are conducted organically as part of the patenting process, you may wish to consider performing a separate patentability search where more time and effort is spent in uncovering relevant prior documents. A separate patentability search will however increase the cost of the patenting process and should be carefully weighed against the benefits. In certain situations, a separate patent search may be recommended by your patent agent where for example the invention is particularly complex and exists in a crowded space where many similar solutions are already known. More information on the requirements for patentability can be found here.

If you are intending on marketing a new product or process in a new country and are concerned if this may lead to infringement of an existing patent in that country, a freedom-to-operate analysis may be of interest to you. This may be particularly important if you are operating in a litigious technology sector where extensive patents have been filed. Given the high cost, high risk and uncertainty involved in patent litigation, it may be prudent to reduce your risks by way of a Freedom to Operate analysis.

The Freedom to Operate analysis begins with a search to uncover existing patents or pending patents that are similar to your product/process in question. Should similar patents be found, a more detailed analysis of the relevant patents can be performed to determine the likelihood your product or process is infringing or is likely to infringe the patent(s) in question.

While a freedom-to-operate search cannot guarantee non-infringement, it can greatly reduce the risks and should be considered at an early stage before substantive plans to enter a new market are made.

The short answer is no. An invention should be kept as a secret and not be disclosed to a third party before a patent is filed. Failure to do so may prevent a patent in relation to the invention in question from being filed as the disclosure under certain circumstances may be deemed as novelty destroying.

Accordingly, an invention must be kept secret before a patent is filed. This unfortunately is easier said and done in view of the commercial realities of running a business as there is often a need to communicate with 3rd parties such as external collaborators and investors.

If you must disclose your invention to a third party, it would preferable to limit the disclosure to what your invention can do rather than how it achieves its intended effect. In such instances where the significant disclosure of secrets is unavoidable, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) can be signed to preserve the novelty of a patent filed despite the disclosure. A simpler way of determining if an NDA would be needed would be to ask yourself the following question: would the disclosure I am about to make allow my competitor to reproduce your invention without undue burden. If the answer is yes, it would be prudent to sign an NDA. Further information on pre-filing confidentiality can be found here.

Once a first patent application has been found, subsequent applications filed in different countries can claim priority to the earlier application. In order to validly claim priority, the claim must be made at latest, 12 months from the filing date of the earliest application.

The benefit of claiming priority is it allows the later applications that claim priority to be treated as having been filed on the date of the earliest application for the purposes of determining novelty and inventive step. The aforementioned are patentability requirements that must be met before a patent is granted. Since prior art can only be considered for the novelty and inventive step assessment if was made available to the public before the first patent application was filed, an earlier filing date afforded by a priority claim is highly desirable. Should you require more time to file subsequent applications, you may wish to consider filing a PCT application which allows subsequent filings to be filed 30-months from the filing date of the earliest application.

A patent specification must disclose an invention clearly and completely in a manner that allows it to be performed by a person skilled in the art. In other words, a person of the correct technical background for example your competitor should be able to follow the instructions in the patent specification and reproduce the invention without much difficulty. Should a competitor attempt to recreate the invention using instructions in the patent specification and is unable to achieve the intended results, the patent can be revoked.

Therefore, if you do not wish to reveal confidential aspects of your invention to the public, you may choose to protect your invention as confidential information or a trade secret. This is only viable if you can maintain the secrecy of your invention while commercially exploiting it. For example, if your invention is a unique configuration for a motor which is readily discernible by visually inspection you probably want to opt for patent protection as your competitors can acquire the motor and reverse engineer it and sell their own versions of the motor. Without patent protection, you will not be able to refrain them from selling a similar motor since the act of selling your motor puts the unique configuration in the public domain which prevents it from being protected as trade secret.

No. While a granted patent allows you to amongst other things exclude others from making, using, or selling your invention while the patent is in force, it does not give you the exclusive right to work the invention to the exclusion of others. Inventions are usually improvements to existing products which may already be subject to ongoing patent protection.

For example, pharmaceutical company A has a first patent for a new compound and its use in treating heart conditions. Subsequently, one of their competitors, pharmaceutical company B obtains a patent for the same compound’s use in treating diabetes. Since the first patent relates to the compound itself, working the second patent even if it is strictly used in relation to treating diabetes would always infringe the first patent despite being within the scope of the second patent.

In other words, even if pharmaceutical company B were selling the compound for use in treating only diabetes which is protected by their own patent, it would still infringe pharmaceutical company A’s patent which protects the compound itself.