A brand is often worth more than the company’s physical assets, yet many businesses only think about protecting it when a competitor starts using something similar. Registration is relatively quick and inexpensive; a dispute over an unregistered name is neither.
Registration
You can protect a trademark in Bulgaria through the Bulgarian Patent Office, or in all EU member states at once with a single EU trademark filed at the EUIPO. Before filing, we run a clearance search for identical and similar earlier marks, help define the goods and services in the right Nice classes, and anticipate objections. If no one opposes, registration usually takes six to twelve months. The same offices register industrial designs.
Copyright
Copyright arises automatically when a work is created — no registration is needed. What matters in business is who owns it: work created by employees, freelancers and agencies needs clear contractual terms on ownership and licensing. We draft those terms and the licences and assignments that follow.
Enforcement
When rights are infringed, we start with a cease-and-desist letter and negotiation, and move to interim measures, civil claims for injunctions and damages, customs seizures of infringing goods or criminal complaints where warranted.
- Trademark registration in Bulgaria and the EU (EUIPO)
- Industrial design registration
- Copyright advice and ownership of commissioned work
- Clearance searches and oppositions
- Action against infringement
- Licence and assignment agreements
- Representation before the Patent Office and the EUIPO
Questions clients ask
Should I register a Bulgarian or an EU trademark?
If you trade, or plan to trade, in more than one EU country, an EU trademark is usually more cost-effective. If your business is purely local, or the EU mark is likely to face objections somewhere in the EU, a national mark may be the safer choice.
Do I own the logo my agency designed for me?
Not automatically. Unless the contract transfers the copyright or grants you a sufficiently broad exclusive licence, the designer keeps it. It is worth fixing this in writing before you register the logo as a trademark.