If you want to distinguish your goods, services or both from those of another company, you may need a trademark or trade name. Find out what they are, what their registration procedure is and what it involves.
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If you are an entrepreneur or a company and you want to boost and improve the profitability of your business by adequately protecting the intangible assets of your organisation, in this space you will find what you need.
It is common for companies to choose a name and protect it as a trademark, trade name, corporate name and domain name in order to concentrate their efforts and investments in publicity.
Identical or similar trade names and corporate names belonging to different businesses working in different business areas can coexist on the register, so long as there is no risk of error or confusion. It is not possible to register a corporate name that is identical to another already registered, even though the commercial activity is different. Neither is it possible to register a domain name that coincides with another previously registered name, whatever activity may be carried out using either of them.
Trademarks and trade names are registered with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office; corporate names in the Central Mercantile Registry; and ".es" domain names with the public business entity Red.es, where the Directorate of Internet Domain Names is based, also known as ESNIC. There are therefore THREE DIFFERENT REGISTRIES for registering these important identifying signs for companies.
The registration of domain names is governed by its own national and international legislation (depending on the type of domain) and is not among the competencies of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office. Conflicts relating to both types of domain name should be dealt with by International Arbitration Organisations or the Courts.
General information on this matter (taken from the web page of the Intellectual Property Register):
HOW ARE CONFLICTS BETWEEN INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, CORPORATE NAMES AND DOMAIN NAMES RESOLVED?
The temporal priority of the corresponding sign is of significance
A) Priority trademark or trade name: the registered holder can begin legal action in the Courts of Justice against anyone who subsequently adopts the same name or one that could be confused with their name for the same or similar business activities and, among other measures, may request that the company ceases to use the distinctive sign (section. 34.3.d. Trademark Act) and that they change their corporate name. Furthermore, the registration bodies responsible for granting or verification of names of incorporated entities will refuse the name or company name requested if it coincides or may lead to confusion with a famous or well-known trademark or trade name in the terms established under the Trademark Act, without authorisation of the trademark or trade name holder (Fourteenth Additional Provision of the Trademark Act).
Against those who use that distinctive sign as a domain name, together with the possibility of going to the Courts of Justice (section. 34.3.f. Trademark Act), they can turn to Red.es to make use of the administrative procedures or verification and cancellation if the domain name in question meets the criteria for such action.
B) Previous corporate name: an entity that has duly registered their corporate name can follow administrative channels to oppose any attempts by third parties to register their corporate name as a trademark or trade name, under the circumstances provided for in art. 9.1.D of the Trademark Act and can also go to the Courts of Justice to request the nullification of said registration. They can also defend their rights against those parties who register their company name as domain name in the terms described under A) above.
C) Previous domain name: anyone with a duly registered domain name can go to the Courts of Justice to take action against those who register said name as a trademark, trade name or corporate name, claiming unfair competition, bad faith (art. 51.1.B Trademark Act) and any other legally founded claims. These types of legal actions are particularly difficult.
Existen diversas clasificaciones según el parámetro que se siga en cada caso. Cabe destacar:
A) Según si existe una finalidad específica asociada a la general de diferenciar productos y servicios:
B) Según el formato del signo que se protege:
When you request a trademark or trade name you have to indicate which products and/or services or activities you wish to protect with said distinctive sign.
The International (Nice) Classification has been drawn up for this purpose and consists of 45 classes, each one covering a group of related products or services. At a European level there is a harmonised classification of products and services, a repository of validated classification terms which is used by all the offices in the EU, including the EUIPO.
BOPI
Electronic site
