{"id":69294,"date":"2025-07-22T03:36:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T01:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lhr-law.de\/magazine\/lhr-case-study-trademark-application-older-marks-discovered-why-a-thorough-search-is-just-the-beginning-not-the-end\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T03:36:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T01:36:50","slug":"lhr-case-study-trademark-application-older-marks-discovered-why-a-thorough-search-is-just-the-beginning-not-the-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lhr-law.de\/en\/magazine-en\/trademark-law\/lhr-case-study-trademark-application-older-marks-discovered-why-a-thorough-search-is-just-the-beginning-not-the-end\/","title":{"rendered":"LHR Case Study: Trademark Application \u2013 Older Marks Discovered? Why a Thorough Search Is Just the Beginning \u2013 Not the End"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s already something similar in the register \u2013 the new trademark doesn\u2019t stand a chance.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

You hear this kind of statement a lot.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s often wrong.<\/p>\n

Because a thorough trademark search isn\u2019t about burying ideas \u2013 it\u2019s about making informed decisions and developing smart strategies. A recent case from our advisory practice illustrates this perfectly.<\/p>\n

Trademark search across six classes \u2013 with a strategic view of the bigger picture<\/h2>\n

An internationally active company is planning to launch a new brand covering a wide range of products \u2013 from cosmetics and household goods to textiles and clothing. The challenge: the proposed mark is phonetically and visually very similar to three older marks already listed in the register.<\/p>\n

Rather than abandoning the project prematurely, we conducted a comprehensive similarity and risk analysis \u2013 including a traffic light system to assess the potential conflicts.<\/p>\n

The result: Two of the three potentially problematic trademarks were registered back in 2012. This means they are already subject to the obligation of use.<\/p>\n

When old trademarks exist only in the register \u2013 and no longer in the market<\/h2>\n

Our supplementary research revealed that the trademarks in question are likely no longer in use. A clear advantage for our client.<\/p>\n

Because anyone who wants to assert an older mark against a new one must be able to prove genuine use \u2013 for the past five years. If they can\u2019t, the mark is at risk of being revoked due to non-use.<\/p>\n

Tactical advantage: Sometimes attack is the best defense<\/h2>\n

Especially interesting: One of the trademark owners refiled an identical mark in 2021 \u2013 possibly to bypass the expired use requirement. This opens up another angle of attack: a cancellation request based on bad-faith filing.<\/p>\n

Our conclusion:<\/h2>\n

A good trademark search doesn\u2019t just reveal risks \u2013 it also creates opportunities. When you know who you\u2019re dealing with, you can fend off attacks, prepare countermeasures, and successfully register your trademark despite apparent obstacles.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why a search is not the end of a trademark project \u2013 but its strategic foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere\u2019s already something similar in the register \u2013 the new trademark doesn\u2019t stand a chance.\u201d You hear this kind of statement a lot. And it\u2019s often wrong. Because a thorough trademark search isn\u2019t about burying ideas \u2013 it\u2019s about making informed decisions and developing smart strategies. A recent case from our advisory practice illustrates this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19454],"tags":[20464],"class_list":["post-69294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trademark-law","tag-dpma-en","topic_category-trademark-law"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lhr-law.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lhr-law.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lhr-law.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lhr-law.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lhr-law.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lhr-law.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lhr-law.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lhr-law.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lhr-law.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lhr-law.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}