Chanel, Inc. v. Frank Mauriello

Filing for trademark registration is something anybody can do with a single online application. Many business owners, however, decide to wait with trademark registration because the process can appear quite complicated at first sight. Applying without a legal representative can be a difficult and time-consuming process. Mistakes and errors are easy to make and can lead to weak trademark protection or the rejection of your trademark registration altogether.

Another day another case of a trademark dispute between a fashion giant and a small food business. A South Korean fried chicken restaurant recently lost a trademark battle against designer Louis Vuitton. The court ruled in the designer's favor after determining that the restaurant's name Louis Vuitton Dak was too similar to Louis Vuitton.

Approximately 100 million new businesses are established each year [1]. The failure rate of startups is around 90% [2] and while there is a myriad of factors that influence startup success, we do believe that effective brand protection represents one of them. This article thereby presents a concise summary of 13 good reasons why startups should think about trademark registration from the very start.