Trade mark titles and defend them

Publishers and editors should pay more attention to trade marking their titles. Not only should they look to trade mark them more often than they do, but they also need now to actively defend the trade marks they already have or get in the future.

The rules of trade marking have changed in the UK. The UK Government's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) will no longer refuse a trade mark because it is like an existing one. The original trade mark owner has to object as the application is being made.

In the past the IPO and its predecessors would check that an application for a trade mark did not clash with an existing one. Now the IPO will only check whether the mark could, legally, be registered.

So publishers and editors, or the legal offices of the publisher, need to keep a constant eye on the applications for trade marks and object quickly to any application they think infringes the trade marks they have already registered.

On the other hand, there may be a benefit for the efficient publisher over the sleepy one: the efficient publisher can now register a trade mark which is similar to their competitor if they think the competitor is not paying attention to this rule change.

You have been warned.