A trademark generally serves to identify the goods and/or services of a company. Signs that are capable of distinguishing the goods and/or services of one company from those of other companies are eligible for protection. These can be, for example, words, letters, numbers, images, but also colors, movements, holograms, multimedia signs and sounds.

Trademark protection is obtained by registering a trademark in the register of the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA). To do this, you must register the trademark. However, trademark protection can also arise if a sign is used intensively in business transactions or is generally known. However, signs that lack any distinctive character or those that merely describe the goods or services in question (for example, the word "apples" for the product "fruit") are excluded from protection.

In addition to the classic individual trademark, there are two special trademark categories: The collective mark and the certification mark.

• In contrast to the classic trademark, which distinguishes the goods and/or services of a specific company from those of other companies (individual trademark), a collective trademark indicates the origin of a product from an association. Accordingly, it is used by the members of the association. The owner of the collective mark is the respective association with legal capacity.
• Guarantee marks are used to indicate certain independently guaranteed characteristics of the goods/services. They can also be used by several companies. The owner of a certification mark can be any natural or legal person. The prerequisite is that this person has not manufactured the goods themselves, traded in them or offered them as a service.

The respective conditions of use are laid down in a collective or certification mark statute.

All of the above-mentioned trademark types can be registered as collective and certification marks. When you register a trademark, you acquire the sole right to use the trademark for the protected goods and services. You can sell or dispose of this trademark at any time or grant a right of use, a so-called trademark license, to your trademark.

A trademark can be renewed indefinitely. However, it will be deleted from the register if you no longer pay the renewal fee, which is due after every 10 years.

If you want to register an IP right, you can do this yourself. However, you can also seek help from a patent attorney or attorney-at-law. If you live outside Germany and have neither a registered office nor a branch office here, you must be represented by a lawyer or patent attorney licensed in Germany.