Is a trademark application expensive?
The question should be: is it worth investing in a trademark application? My answer to this question is - YES. In this article, I want to present the benefits and costs that an entrepreneur must incur to optimally secure their brand.
Protection against imitation and copying
You incur financial expenses to develop your brand. Brand protection means protecting the financial outlays incurred. Appropriate protection of a trademark at an early stage makes it easier to take action in the event of a possible imitation of your brand or the products or services offered.
Optimizing the protection
Our client’s budget must also be considered in the strategy for securing intellectual property. What should you take into consideration? Together, we consider the territorial scope of protection, the type of trademark, the number of marks worth reporting, and the list of goods or services.
In a case where a trademark is used by one entrepreneur, but has not been registered, and suddenly their competitor or imitator files an identical mark, the situation becomes complicated and causes great uncertainty for entrepreneurs. Therefore, it is worth including funds for intellectual property protection in the budget at the very beginning of your business.
The costs
The cost of filing a trademark application in cooperation with a professional attorney is the attorney's fee and the official fee. The official fee depends on the territory in which the application is filed, as well as on the list of goods or services for the mark, and more specifically on the number of classes.
For example, the official fee for filing a trademark application with the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland to obtain protection in Poland is:
a) PLN 400 for application in one class and PLN 120 for each subsequent class,
b) and in the case of granting protection for a trademark ten-year protection fee of PLN 400 for each class and an additional fee of PLN 90 for publication.
The fee for filing a trademark application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office is EUR 850 for an application in one class, EUR 900 for an application in two classes, and an additional EUR 150 for an application in each subsequent class.
A co-financing program for applications has been in operation for several years, including trademarks and industrial designs. It is addressed to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. It’s worth learning about and using this option: https://www.euipo.europa.eu/pl/discover-ip/sme-fund/overview
The most important thing is that this is an investment that brings benefits. It gives you appropriate brand protection and allows you to control whom you want to grant permission to use the trademark, e.g. in the form of a license.
If you are wondering about costs and the appropriate strategy, contact us and we will select the optimal solution.