Trade mark protection is crucial for brand owners, offering exclusive rights to use and enforce the trade mark. However, the standard process can sometimes create commercial difficulties with public disclosure.
Trade mark applications, and their details, are typically disclosed to the public and are accessible online soon after filing. This can complicate plans to keep the trade mark details confidential until the right time.
That’s where stealth trade mark applications can come into play. They allow brand owners to stake their claim discretely and put a “flag in the ground” without prematurely disclosing the details of the trade mark to the general public.
For example, Tonga, as a signatory to the Paris Convention, provides these benefits. Its registry doesn’t maintain a widely accessible online database of pending applications, and applicants can explicitly request to delay the publication of a national trade mark application (though it does not apply to Designations). This makes it possible to preserve confidentiality during the six-month priority period.
This effectively ensures that newly filed national trade mark applications are not readily disclosed to the general public, but the brand owner still enjoys the benefit of being able to claim the first filing date in the country of origin by utilising the six-month priority period to expand protection around the world.
Stealth trade mark applications can prove a very useful tool not only reducing public disclosure, but also allowing brand owners the opportunity to secure the necessary legal protection at the same time.
Want to explore how stealth filings can work for your brand? Reach out to our team, we’re here to help.
