Trademark Registration

Companies give their products names, logos, and slogans so that customers can recognize them. Such recognition signs are called trademarks. Anyone who wants to secure such a sign for themselves permanently registers it with an office and has it entered into a public register. This process is called trademark registration, or “Markenregistrierung” in German. After registration, the owner can prohibit other companies from using an identical or very similar sign for comparable goods. The protection always applies only in the country or region for which the office is responsible.

What a registered trademark is worth economically

A name can be worth more than a factory. Customers trust a well-known sign and pay higher prices for it. Without registration, any competitor could put the same name on their goods. The reputation built up would then transfer to someone else’s products, and the company would have almost no means to prevent it.

For investors, the trademark is therefore a tangible asset. It appears on balance sheets, it can be sold, and it can be lent to others for a fee. This permission to use it is called a license. A large part of the business of sporting goods and fashion companies consists precisely of this.

In the tech industry, trademark disputes often make the news. When OpenAI equipped its voice assistant with voices and used product names like “Sora” or “GPT,” trademarks immediately became an issue. The term “GPT” was partly deemed too generic in the US and was not protected. Such decisions have direct consequences for how companies are allowed to name their products.

From application to registration

At the start is the selection of goods and services. A sign is never registered for everything, but for specific classes, such as software, clothing, or beverages. The application is then filed with the responsible office—in Germany with the German Patent and Trademark Office, for the entire EU with the EUIPO. Fees apply, usually a few hundred euros.

The office then examines whether the sign is capable of protection at all. Purely descriptive words are rejected: nobody gets “Fresh Milk” for milk. Misleading statements and state emblems are also excluded. Invented words like “Kodak” have the best chances because they describe nothing.

After registration, an opposition period follows. During this time, holders of older trademarks can object if they see a risk of confusion. The office examines similarity not only in spelling, but also in sound and meaning. Protection initially lasts ten years and can be renewed as often as desired. It is important to distinguish this from a patent: a patent protects a technical invention and expires permanently after about twenty years, while a trademark can theoretically last forever.

The little ® and other everyday traces

The symbol ® after a name means that the trademark is registered. The superscript ™, on the other hand, only indicates that a company claims a sign as a trademark, without there necessarily being a registration. Anyone who uses ® without an actual registration is acting misleadingly in Germany and can be issued a cease-and-desist letter.

In tech news, one regularly encounters this topic in naming disputes and rebrandings. When a start-up suddenly renames its product, there is often a trademark conflict behind it. App stores and advertising platforms also remove ads if a trademark owner complains.

A common misconception is that a registered internet address automatically grants trademark rights. This is false: a domain is just an address and is assigned on a “first come, first served” basis. Conversely, a trademark owner can even demand the surrender of a domain if it misuses their name.