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[IP Academy] Analysis of common misunderstandings in the layout of enterprise trademarks

2025-05-22

In the process of serving global customers, the CANTOOP team found that many companies have common misunderstandings in trademark layout. Myth 1: Heavy registration and light monitoring. According to the data, 83% of trademark disputes stem from the failure to establish an effective monitoring mechanism, and a technology company was forced to postpone its brand upgrade for half a year due to the failure to find similar trademarks in time. Myth 2: Incomplete geographical coverage. An exporter registered only its own trademark and that of the main exporting country, but was squatted in the transshipment country, and ended up paying a transfer fee of up to 20 times the original registration fee. Myth 3: Single category selection. A food brand was not registered in the packaging design category, resulting in the characteristic packaging being legally imitated by competitors.

In view of these pain points, it is recommended that enterprises establish a "three early" protection system: early search, global trademark screening at the product development stage; Early layout to achieve full coverage of core markets through the Madrid System; Early defense, protective registration in related classes and potential business areas. CANTOOP RECENTLY ASSISTED A SMART HOME COMPANY IN FORMULATING A "TRADEMARK MATRIX" SCHEME, WHICH NOT ONLY COVERS 9 CATEGORIES INVOLVED IN THE EXISTING BUSINESS, BUT ALSO PREDICTS THE FUTURE TECHNICAL DIRECTION AND REGISTERS 5 ADDITIONAL CATEGORIES, BUILDING A THREE-DIMENSIONAL PROTECTIVE NETWORK.

In particular, it is important to note that the standards of review vary significantly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. For example, the United States emphasizes evidence of actual use of trademarks, while the European Union has extremely high distinctiveness requirements for figurative trademarks. In the Middle East, the accuracy of Arabic translations has a direct impact on the success rate of registration. The CANTOOP Dubai team handled a typical case where a Chinese brand was rejected due to ambiguity in the Arabic translation, and was successfully approved for registration after adjustment by a professional linguist. With the vigorous development of cross-border e-commerce, enterprises need to pay more attention to the convergence of platform rules and local laws to avoid risks in advance.