Trade Mark Protection & Registration
Trade mark protection is the registered right to prohibit third parties from using an identical or confusingly similar sign for specified goods and services. A sign may be a name, a logo or a word-and-figure combination. Registration does not create a positive right to use the sign: earlier rights held by others may still stand in the way of your own use. In Austria the right arises upon entry in the trade mark register; under section 19 of the Trade Mark Protection Act it lasts ten years from the filing date and is renewable.
In practice
Trade mark protection is not copyright: it protects a sign as an indication of origin in trade, not the design as a work, and only in the classes of goods and services applied for. Before launching a new name, search whether an identical or confusingly similar sign is already protected, because a clash after rollout means new signage, new print material and possibly giving up a domain. A register search alone is not enough: unregistered company names and established trade signs can also stand in the way of a new name. Before committing to larger investments, have the search assessed by a patent attorney. Consider whether a national mark suffices or whether an EU trade mark covering the single market makes sense if you export. Descriptive names are hard or impossible to register, which often rules out the seemingly obvious favourite. Treat filing as an investment with a processing time, not a formality shortly before launch.