Do you have to buy trademark in all countries?

If you or your business operate a website, you should get a US trademark, unless the website uses a ccTLD other than the .us TLD. There are many benefits to getting a US trademark. A US trademark seems to be the most popular jurisdiction for trademarks.

Trademark Use In USA

If you operate a blog with Amazon or CJ or other US-based affiliate ads or even Google Adsense, you may base your application based on actual use in commerce in the USA by claiming “Online advertising and promotional services” as your service.

Trademark in Vietnam 

If you operate a website that sells goods directly or by drop shipping, you should be able to claim services such as an “On-line retail store services featuring … (describe your goods.)”

Make sure that you use your trademark within view of your ads when creating your website, otherwise, the USPTO may reject your trademark specimen. USPTO trademark applications are usually examined within 4 months and you can get a registration within 8 months.

Getting a US-based trademark is generally preferred for protecting domain names with the .com, .net, .org, and .us TLDs from UDRP or Cybersquatting Complaints.

In what other Countries Should I Register my Trademark?

Your business should register its trademark in every country:

·         where it does business,

·         where it will be offering its goods and services,

·         where it manufactures its goods, and

·         where you plan on licensing your company’s trademark.

Some jurisdictions don’t need use before registration, such as the UK and the EU, and China. Other countries allow for registration based on use and registration abroad, such as the USA and Canada. In any case, trademarks are vulnerable to cancellation after the third anniversary of their registration in most countries if you can’t prove “use of the trademark” within the previous 3 years.

The UK examines and usually approves trademarks within 3 months of filing your application.

The EU examines and usually approves trademarks within 6 months of filing your application.

Canada’s trademark office, CIPO, has typically been taking 12 to 14 months to examine trademark applications filed since 2016.

Oppositions cause uncertainty and can get expensive. Any interested person may oppose a trademark application after a trademarks office has approved it and published it for “opposition” in its Trademarks Journal. If there’s no opposition, most countries will send you a Notice of Allowance.

Some countries require a registration fee. The USPTO requires a Statement of Use fee.

In any case, it is wise to file your trademark applications as soon as you adopt and clear a trademark. If you are planning on growing your business quickly or launching a product before getting a Notice of Allowance, it is important to do a full trademark search to clear your trademark choice. Otherwise, you may face a trademark infringement lawsuit soon after your sales start growing or your website gets traffic.

If you think that you have a very valuable domain, trademark the domain either in the US or in the country that you list in your address as the registrant of the domain name.

Global Trademarks

There’s no such thing as a Global trademark. The Madrid Protocol, however, allows you to file one application in many countries using WIPO’s Madrid System. Trademarks

How can I protect my trademark?

Trademarks are registered at the national and regional levels. For example, there are trademark offices in each country in the EU and there's an EUIPO trademark office https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimport....

So you can have a trademark registered in Italy, Spain, Croatia, and Romania, as well as in the EU.

Trademark law, treaties and documents

The treaties WIPO administers, together with national and regional laws, make up the international legal framework for trademarks.

Trademark-related treaties administered by WIPO

·         Paris Convention

The Paris Convention is an international treaty that allows applicants to file a first application in their home country. That application is referred to as a priority document or filing, and the date it is filed is called the priority date.
→ The Paris Convention gives you a 6-month window to file additional trademark applications in various countries after you file a trademark application in your home country and still claim your priority date.

·         Madrid Agreement (Marks)

Nationals of any of the Madrid contracting countries may, in all the other countries party to this Agreement, secure protection for their marks applicable to goods or services, registered in the country of origin, by filing the said marks at the International Bureau of Intellectual Property (hereinafter designated as "the International Bureau") referred to in the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (hereinafter designated as "the Organization"), through the intermediary of the Office of the said country of origin.

·         Madrid Protocol

The Madrid system comprises two treaties; the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, which was concluded in 1891, and entered into force in 1892, and the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement, which came into operation on 1 April 1996.

·         Nice Agreement

The Nice Agreement established a classification of goods and services for the purposes of registering trademarks and service marks (the Nice Classification), in classes numbered 1 to 45.

·         Vienna Agreement

The Vienna Agreement, concluded in Vienna in 1973 and amended in 1985, establishes a classification (the Vienna Classification) for marks that consist of, or contain, figurative elements, in classes 1 to 29 and up to four sub-levels.

·         Singapore Treaty

A modern and dynamic international framework for the harmonization of administrative trademark registration procedures.

·         Trademark Law Treaty

The Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) standardized and streamlined national and regional trademark registration procedures by simplifying and harmonizing those procedures to make trademark applications and the administration of trademark registrations in multiple jurisdictions less complex and more predictable. The procedures are divided into three main phases:
1. application for registration;
2. changes after registration; and
3. renewal.
The rules concerning each phase are constructed so as to clearly define the requirements for an application or a specific request.

·         Nairobi Treaty:

All States party to the Nairobi Treaty are under the obligation to protect the Olympic symbol – five interlaced rings – against use for commercial purposes (in advertisements, on goods, as a mark, etc.) without the authorization of the International Olympic Committee.