Your brand is a long-term investment, but its value is realized only when you properly enforce your rights. Enforcing trademark registration rights is the first step to protecting brand identity. This article will be your guide in navigating your rights as a trademark owner under the Intellectual Property Code (IP Code).1
Trademark Registration: An Overview
Today’s market landscape is competitive, so protecting your brand is essential. Trademark registration is a crucial step for the acquisition of a right over a mark,2 establishing the foundation for enforcing your rights under the law.
It’s important to note that a void registration confers no legal rights. To protect your brand effectively, ensure that your trademark registration is fully compliant and valid before moving forward with enforcement.
3 Ways to Enforce Trademark Registration Rights
We have rounded up the 3 ways to enforce your trademark registration rights, which are:
1. Monitor your trademark
Trademark monitoring is the process of examining new trademark applications. This will help you identify potential infringements that may compromise your trademark and maintain your brand’s reputation. To monitor your trademark, you may conduct a trademark search to avoid the perils of trademark infringement.
2. Maintain your trademark use
Once your trademark registration is approved, you need to maintain the use of your trademark by submitting a Declaration of Actual Use (DAU) to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). The IP Code provides for the requirements of application in relation to trademark maintenance under Section. 124.3 Note that without securing a DAU, you are at risk of registration cancellation. Once your registration is cancelled, you will not be able to enforce your trademark registration rights. Check out 3 Easy Steps to Register Trademark in the Philippines to know more.
3. File opposition proceedings
The IP Code gives trademark owners the right to file a trademark infringement action to further protect their mark. A trademark owner may file a criminal, administrative, or civil action against an infringer. Section 134 of the IP Code states, to wit:
Any person who believes that he would be damaged by the registration of a mark may, upon payment of the required fee and within thirty (30) days after the publication, file with the Office an opposition to the application.4 (omission supplied for emphasis)
Filing opposition proceedings helps you enforce your trademark registration by preventing an infringer from registering a mark that is confusingly similar to yours. To learn more about trademark infringement and how to avoid it, check out 3 Ways to Avoid Trademark Infringement in the Philippines: Best Practices for Businesses.
Conclusion
Trademark registration is an important step in establishing a brand’s identity in the competitive Philippine market. By securing a valid registration, businesses gain exclusive rights that enable them to protect their mark against infringement. Accordingly, effective enforcement of these rights enhances commercial opportunities and long-term success.
Do you want to protect your brand from infringers? Book a consultation with a trademark attorney. You may also email us at admin@pinollaw.com.
1 An Act Prescribing the Intellectual Property Code and Establishing the Intellectual Property Office, Providing for its Powers and Functions, and for other Purposes, Republic Act No. 8293, §1 (January 1, 1998) [hereinafter Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines].
2 Zuneca Pharmaceutical v. Natrapharm, Inc. G.R. No. 211850, September 8, 2020
3 Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, §124.
4 Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, §134.
