Trademark and Patent

Now to the law office or read more:

Frequent call to me: I want a patent! However, it often becomes clear during the conversation that a brand, not a patent, is needed. In this case a trademark application has to be made.

A patent provides temporary protection for the idea. A trademark can really make a lasting success out of it.

In general, the connection between trademarks and patents is that the exclusivity of the patent protection during the limited patent term is used to build up a "good" trademark with a high association potential between trademark and product, so that the demand for the product as such after the expiration of the patent protection is primarily oriented to the trademark.

In practice, this leads to a very close connection between trademark and patent law. Trademarks also play a significant role in the market beyond this connection. This is especially the case when it comes to otherwise unprotectable objects which are in the focus of the public through the trademark and remain there.

For the above - and other reasons - it follows that the preparation and strategy of a trademark application is clearly different from that of a patent application: The legal side comes into play much more than the technical side, which plays the main role in the patent.