Check availability of a name or trademark

Launching a product or service on the market involves deciding with what name to identify said product or service. The name must be attractive to the target audience of the business and must also be easily remembered.

Consumers of a product or service must be able to identify the product or service with a name/brand or logo. If the product is not correctly identified, the consumer will not be able to remember which product he liked in the past and is more likely to make a mistake and buy a different product than the one he intended to buy. Thanks to the name/brand or logo, the consumer will be able to buy the product they liked so much on previous occasions. The brand is where the reputation of a product or service crystallizes and should be protected.

Names or logos can and should be protected by registering a trademark.

Can I register a name that is used in another type of business?

Usually yes. The law protects trademarks only for registered products or services, so if you want to use the same name for a product or service that has nothing to do with it, you will have no problems when registering it and, of course, when using it. Note that there are exceptions. The names / brands or logos of brands that are well known to the entire population cannot be used. These trademarks, which are known as renowned trademarks, have an overprotection that prevents third parties from registering or using similar trademarks even if the products or services do not look alike at all.

Where is the line that marks that one brand is considered similar or another?

The line is hard to draw. Trademark law establishes that trademarks that may confuse consumers cannot be registered (and therefore not used). What causes confusion and what does not cause confusion is difficult to establish. Normally, to determine if two brands are similar, trademark experts make a comparison between the number of letters, the position of the letters, the loudness of the brand and even its visual appearance. Based on these variables, it must be defended that a brand does not resemble another previously registered and therefore that they can coexist in the market so that they will not cause confusion in consumers. Logically, the owner of the earlier trademark will defend the opposite position. It will be the examiner who finally decides.

Is it prohibited to register certain trademarks?

Yes. The trademark law, with the objective of defending the common good, establishes a series of absolute prohibitions when registering trademarks. For example, trademarks that are offensive (insults) or that go against morality (against a religion) cannot be registered. Trademarks that confuse consumers by making them believe, for example, that they are buying one type of product when in reality they are buying another, may not be registered either. Nor can generic or descriptive names be registered as trademarks because they would grant their owner too powerful a right.