An important decision for companies is choosing the distinctive trademarks that will identify their products orservices in the future, given that, to a great extent, this decision will be fundamental for the future success of thebusiness. Once factors such as price and quality are linked to a product or service in the consumer’s mind,trademark identification becomes critical. As a result, it is vital to make a proper trademark selection prior to the introduction of the product or service into the market, pursuant to which certain factors must be taken intoconsideration, such as the ease of imitation due to the word(s) or designs chosen, the ease of maintaining thename(s) or images, etc. Given the foregoing, one should consider the following: Carry out a prior investigation to detect possible existing intellectual property rights that may conflict withthe exclusive rights being sought. It is worthwhile to conduct this investigation in various countries to avoidfuture conflicts in potential markets that may be considered in the growth plan of the company. Verify that the chosen trademark complies with all requirements for registration, meaning that it is not ageneric term, not merely descriptive (although it can be suggestive), and verify the meaning of the name invarious languages, because in some cases, the chosen name is descriptive when translated to anotherlanguage and, therefore, not subject to registration. Analyze the official classification of marks to determine whether the mark should be registered only for agroup of products or services or for several classes of products or services.A carefully thought out decision on the choice of a future trademark can be the difference between a product’ssuccess or failure, as well as a form of avoiding future conflicts that can be expensive.
