Businesses introducing trademarks in more than one country

Businesses introducing trademarks in more than one country should preferably first check their availability. Multisearch^® quickly gives you an idea of the possible risks. For instance, if you will be using your trademark in the Benelux, France and Germany, we will send you an availability report for each country, drawn up by a local associate, and add our overall advice. Multisearch^® provides you with instant and practical knowledge.

Businesses running global search projects

Large search projects are often carried out in-house. We know from experience that projects like these can put trademark teams under pressure to perform within a certain time limit and within a particular budget. In-house searching means in-house challenges.

Time often proves the biggest challenge for doing trademark searches in-house. Managing searches across various countries, or dealing with unclear reports in different formats can be time-consuming. Even if you conduct searches through search providers, you will have to assess and analyse the searches yourself.

Multisearch^® is of great value for trademark teams. Multisearch^® gives trademark teams an overall advice, allowing them in turn to quickly advise their Marketing team. Although the Multisearch^®-costs are a little higher than performing searches in-house, outsourcing a search saves a lot of time and therefore money.

Businesses rebranding their logo

Rebranding a large company’s trademark is a challenging undertaking. The new name or logo must be available in several countries and must be introduced in one go. You simply cannot risk a conflict with senior trademark rights. The implications of a possible infringement or even a recall could be disastrous.

Sound collaboration between the name creation office, the client and Knijff is invaluable for the outcome. Multisearch^® offers a solution: within eight days, trademarks can be checked for their availability in all countries across the world.

Knijff has performed many successful rebrandings and has extensive experience managing these types of projects.

Multisearch^® offers availability searches in the countries of interest to you. Searches may include European registrations, International registrations and National registrations.

We consider not only the legal risk involved in the trademarks found. Equally important is the business risk which we investigate to establish if the owner of a pre-existing trademark is likely to object. In addition to legal advice, we also give you practical advice. The combination of these two elements provides you with a realistic image of the various options of a particular trademark.

We offer different types of searches, depending on budget, risk and time to suit your needs. We will be happy to advise you about the various options.

Multisearch^® Pro

Multisearch^® Pro is a detailed search into the availability of your trademark. We will give you a full risk assessment with the search covering all identical and similar trademarks.

You will receive the search results with an advice from our local associates and with our own overall advice. This will tell you exactly which risks may be involved when launching a new trademark and what you can do to eliminate or reduce these.

A full availability search is essential when launching and registering a new trademark. Following the search you will have a full overview of the possible risks.

The country searches come with the opinion of a local country attorney, an expert on local trademark law. This local opinion is important as national perceptions of trademarks may vary. Even the European Union, often regarded as a single trademark jurisdiction, consists of 28 separate jurisdictions. The local attorneys will also conduct a linguistic check to avoid any awkward or embarrassing word associations.

Finally, you will receive an overall opinion and advice from one of Knijff’s trademark attorneys. This opinion discusses the search reports, lists any pertinent trademarks, provides possible solutions and sets out what we regard as business risks.

Multisearch^® Lite

Multisearch^® Lite is a cost-efficient solution that gives you an insight into possible objections. It is an extensive trademark search. And although it does not comprise an opinion from a local agent, it does contain a Knijff trademark lawyer’s overall advice.

Multisearch® Screen

A Screen search provides a more in-depth risk assessment than just an identical check. It reveals not only identical trademarks but also similar trademarks, albeit less comprehensive than in an availability search. A Screen search is an excellent search to start with.

Tailor-made search

We boast years of experience developing customised searches and search formats. Do you want to use your own search format, or do you have any special requirements with regard to a trademark search? Thanks to our advanced and flexible IT systems, we are able to tailor almost anything to your request.

Eugeno^® is a reliable and user-friendly web platform for performing searches. It was developed by Knijff for you.

So how does it work?

The Eugeno^® web platform enables us to carry out searches of dozens of agents across the world in a matter of minutes. These agents return their trademark searches and results online to us. We check and comment on each search, and send you our overall advice regarding the availability of your trademark via the web platform. You can log onto this secure platform for updates on your searches and to download the results.

In this section you will find answers to frequently asked questions about Multisearch^®.