The protection of IP rights and Intellectual property in general has nowadays become a necessity, especially due to the ever growing development of technology, the impairment of all kind of barriers and of course the constant development of businesses and worldwide transactions.
As a result, an international business proceeds to protect all of its IP rights, such as the registration of its Trademark or Trademarks internationally or the registration of its patents and in general, its Intellectual Property of any kind.
The main reason that such companies seek to protect their Intellectual Property, is to ensure that the consumers will not confuse the said company or its services with any other competitor or any other business in general. The combination therefore of the company’s turnover and fame, simply adds to the value of its Intellectual Property.
However, such a situation could have dangerous results and consequences to any small business or company which is located in any given country. The reason for that lies in the simple principles which govern the Law on Intellectual Property.
Essentially, in order for a Trademark to be registrable, certain requirements need to be fulfilled. First of all, the mark should be distinctive, secondly it must not be similar to an already registered mark and thirdly it must not be able to cause confusion to consumers.
The danger that a business faces when using a non-registered Trademark is that of the Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights, which is a civil offense.
This danger becomes more realistic on the basis that if a company uses a mark which is similar to the registered mark of another company, that is considered as Infringement of the IP rights of the company who is the owner of the mark. Any such infringement grants the owner of the infringed mark the right to request damages through legal proceedings.
Therefore, it is advisable for any given company to protect its IP Rights so as to avoid the possibility of infringing the IP rights of another company but also to protect itself from others infringing the said company’s own IP rights.
By Ioanna Christodoulou, Lawyeer
