Trademarks
Trademarks are used for the legal protection of distinctive identifications for products and services. For many companies they are an essential element for bringing about and securing a stand-alone feature compared with competitors. Trademarks fulfil a so-called origin and quality function for the goods and services characterised by the trademark, i.e. they should distinguish these from the goods and services of other companies.
Well established trademarks represent considerable added value for their owner.
The protection requirement for an officially registered trademark is the specification of a concrete list of goods and services as well as a distinctive trademark which, among other things, should not be directly descriptive for the relevant products or services.
Open for trademark protection are so-called word marks (also in the form of slogans), figurative marks, combined word/figurative marks as well as 3D trademarks, colour marks, sound marks (e.g. jingles), motion marks, hologram marks and multimedia marks.
Trademark protection can be extended for unlimited terms in all relevant industrial nations, subject to payment of pertinent maintenance fees to the relevant offices.