FOREIGN TRADEMARK FILING: What You Need To Know In A Nutshell

Trademark, Foreign Filing, Intellectual Property, Madrid Protocol, Law

Foreign Trademark Filing: What You Need to Know in a Nutshell

            This is what I hear from many clients: “the trademark you filed for us will protect us in foreign countries too, right??  Wrong!  As with patents, trademark registrations only cover the country in which they are filed.  So your US trademark application will only bestow trademark rights in the United States and not beyond.  Therefore, in order to protect your trademarked word or design in Japan, or Germany, or whatever country you’re concerned about, you will need to file a trademark application in each of those countries.  This can get costly very quickly.  But wait, there is a solution?

FOREIGN TRADEMARK FILING: What You Need To Know In A Nutshell

Trademark, Foreign Filing, Intellectual Property, Madrid Protocol, Law

Foreign Trademark Filing: What You Need to Know in a Nutshell

            This is what I hear from many clients: “the trademark you filed for us will protect us in foreign countries too, right??  Wrong!  As with patents, trademark registrations only cover the country in which they are filed.  So your US trademark application will only bestow trademark rights in the United States and not beyond.  Therefore, in order to protect your trademarked word or design in Japan, or Germany, or whatever country you’re concerned about, you will need to file a trademark application in each of those countries.  This can get costly very quickly.  But wait, there is a solution?

Foreign Patent Filing and PCT Application

Intellectual Property, Patents, Patent Cooperation Treaty, Foreign Patents, Foreign Filing, Foreign Patent Filing.

Foreign Patent Filing and PCT Applications

 

I.                   Why to Foreign File?

Many people think that there is an all encompassing international patent;

unfortunately, there really is not.  Your U.S. filed patent application is only good in the United States.  Thus, in order to obtain foreign patent rights, you must file separately in each foreign country because the patent laws of each country are different.  With that understood, Patent Cooperation Treaty applications (PCT) can be filed designating multiple foreign countries.  This is discussed in further detail in section II below. 

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