It has been recently reported on MSN that Kia will now be unable to use its planned name for a flagship car in Europe because its use would conflict with the earlier trade mark of another company.
Before committing to significant advertising and promotional expenditure and launching a product, parties are well advised to search for earlier potentially conflicting intellectual property rights. This also applies to patents and design registrations. In certain jurisdictions, punitive damages are available for “wilful” infringement . By carrying out such prior right searches and, using an attorney to consider the scope of any rights relative to your product, you may have a defence against this.
Whilst the results of searches cannot be guaranteed to find all relevant pre-existing rights, they will usually reduce the risk of having to perform an expensive re-branding or design around exercise to avoid infringement of the existing rights of others.
Maschio & Soames IP Limited, 30 Carlton Crescent, Southampton, SO15 2EW, UK
T: +44 (0)2380 989 270