How do I file a trademark

There are a number of ways to file a trademark and perform a registration. An individual or business entity can file a trademark independently but it is advised to enlist the assistance of a professional consultancy to file it on your behalf.  The selected countries you want to file a trademark in will ultimately determine the process on how to register your mark.

For more information on how to file a trademark application for registration, visit our How to Register a Trademark page.

Registration of a trademark

Enlisting the assistance of a professional consultancy or registered attorney to file an application on your behalf is highly advised. By using a consultancy firm to help you with the process of filing for registration is relatively simple and much less time consuming.

Firstly you will need to send your mark with the number of classes required to the consultancy. The classes you will select are found in the ‘Nice Classification’ system. The professional consultant will then perform a search on your behalf to ensure the trademark is available. Providing the mark meets the relevant trademarks act in your selected jurisdictions and is capable of being represented graphically, the mark can be filed for registration with the appropriate registry.

For individuals or companies who do not have a mark but wish to file a trademark, they can enlist the assistance of a professional to design the trademark in compliance with the necessary trademark laws. Once the trademark has been finalized and a search has been conducted, it is then possible to apply for registration in the selected countries.

There are a number of ways to file a trademark, for example – to file with OHIM will require a different procedure compared to filing through the Madrid System. Similarly, to file through individual national registries, will incur a separate application process also.