Trademark Watching

1. How does trademark watching work at Chiever?

We use advanced software to scan trademark registers for new brands that resemble your trademark. If a new brand is signalled, we will contact you immediately, including an estimation of your chances opposing a brand. Then we offer consultation about further action and inform you of costs. It’s up to you whether you want to take further action.

2. At another brand agency we always get piles of infringement alerts. How does Chiever deal with these?

Some agencies overwhelm their clients with infringement alerts. It’s a bit like checking the box ‘done’. We approach it differently because we always make a critical selection and really only contact you if further action is desirable or worth serious consideration. In which case, our message to you includes advice on opportunities and costs. This means you will not be inundated with useless surveillance notices.

3. Can I also have a logo protected?

Yes, monitoring is relevant to a word mark, an image or logo or a combination of both. Logo monitoring includes a weekly overview of new logos that are similar and have been submitted for registration requests.

4. Is brand monitoring mandatory?

No, brand monitoring is not mandatory, but we recommend it. If someone tries to register a similar trademark, the protected trademarks are only eligible for notification on time. At that moment you can try to stop the registration by issuing a warning to the applicant or by starting an administrative procedure called an opposition. If you don’t have brand monitoring you could miss the deadline for an opposition and the opportunity of having the similar brand removed from the register. Your only option left then is a court procedure which is more expensive, complex and time consuming than an administrative opposition procedure.

 5. What is Online Brand Protection?

In addition to registry control, Chiever also offers Online Brand Protection. We detect and combat fraudulent online use of your brands on internet forums, social media or online marketplaces. We discuss the infringements found and take measures to have these infringements removed from the internet.

6. What needs to be done before my brand can be monitored?

The moment we register a trademark for you, it is advisable to include this trademark in our monitoring service immediately. As soon as Chiever registers a trademark for you, we always ask whether you also want trademark monitoring. If so, we will ensure that the trademark is immediately included in our monitoring system in the relevant countries. From that point on you don’t need to take action, as we have all the necessary data.

7. What are the costs?

The costs for trademark monitoring depend on the number of classes (products and services) and the number of countries (registers). To give you an idea: the annual costs of trademark monitoring in 3 classes in the Benelux (which is almost always sufficient) are €145, in the European Union (26 countries/registers) €425 and worldwide €625. This includes monitoring and advice. With each monitoring signal, we advise on the success rate.

8. Where can my trademark be monitored?

Trademark monitoring can be carried out in trademark registers worldwide. If you are only active in the Netherlands, we recommend that you limit trademark monitoring to the Benelux trademark register. If you also use the trademark in other EU countries, it is advisable to have the European trademark register, and the various national registers (26) of the EU countries monitored. If, for example, the US, Japan or China are also important to your brand, we can also offer surveillance in those countries. But you can also decide to monitor your trademark globally.