Because trademark protection is territorial in nature, managing an international trademark portfolio is complex. Your company may have one trademark or hundreds, in either case you need experienced and skilled trademark legal counselwho will help you prioritize and protect your portfolio.
The general issues for managing any trademark portfolio are:
Creation (or discovery) of a strong trademark
Registration (including pre-registration research on prior use, other use, similar use, etc.)
Renewal, filings and annual fees
Use of the trademark, which is required in some countries but not in others (proper company use and use by affiliated/owned companies, franchisees, and licensees)
Protecting your trademark so it remains distinctive
Monetizing (via “use-of” contracts and licenses; writing, monitoring, renewing)
Collateralizing (via financing agreements)
Enforcement (litigation and political action)
International trademark portfolios add an array of complexity depending on how many countries and languages are involved. A non-exhaustive list of additional issues include:
Variable and differing trademark registration regimes (national, regional, and international)
Varying use-of requirements
Translation/transliteration of trademarks into new languages, alphabets, and symbol systems
Dynamics of local markets (which might differ significantly from one to the next and from the US market)
Differing local laws (including issues concerning trademark use, registration, protection, and enforcement)
Differing local policing policies and priorities regarding preventing counterfeiting (in real space and on the internet)
