The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has joined up with EURid, the domain name registry for the .eu, .ею and .ευ top-level domains, to support domain name and trademark applicant and owners from the outset. Aimed at specifically assisting start-ups and SMEs, the proposed collaboration will allow applicants to obtain trade mark and domain name registration in a integrated format, facilitating business to secure brands and manage their intellectual property from the start of their business journey.
The proposal is that of a reciprocal system, which by way of example, will allow holders of .eu domain name recently registered to see whether a trade mark with a similar name is available for registration at the EUIPO, and vice versa. It will also serve as the basis for a joint study that will allow better handling and identification of registrations done in bad faith or cases of fraudulent domain name registration. In addition to this collaborative system, discovery guides and webinars, as well as a specific SME chatbot will be set up in order to assist these smaller businesses with building their intellectual property portfolio and management of the same.
For further information on this topic, please contact Sarah Cannataci on sarah.cannataci@fenlex.com.