If you are looking forward to expand your business on a global scale, so you are probably searching for ways which enable you to do that professionally through protecting your brand in the countries that you are aiming to promote your business in. Perhaps you are wondering if it is possible to register your trademark internationally. Unfortunately no, although there are some regional agreements which provide an extended protection in specific locations.
So you have to start designing your personalized strategy for your business which allow you to register your brand in the countries that provide the most protection through selecting the registration destinations in a thoughtful way.
In this article we are going to guide you to be aware of the best geographic areas which you have to register your trademark in and protect your business, hence, helping you to enhance your business professionally. So don’t waste your time or money trying to figure it out by yourself and take a look on the following list.

Don’t underestimate the great power of Chinese market to broaden your business globally, as it is one of the largest and most highly populated countries in the world with over 1,300 million residents and the biggest amounts of exports in the world. You also should take into your account that China is topping the list of countries where counterfeit goods and infringement of property rights are frequent. Therefore, if your business has a presence in it, don’t postpone a very essential step like registering your trademark to safeguard your business from being in high risk which can lead to uncontrollable economic losses. The processing time for registration is roughly 12 months.

A registered trademark in United States has a wide coverage of protection in the continent of North America as it will be protected at the federal level. In addition to another great feature for registration in United States, which is the reasonable cost. It’s an ideal destination for your business as it is one of the most dominant countries on the planet. Registration time lasting anywhere from 12 months or longer.

When crossing to the European continent and planning to grow your business in it, it’s absolutely essential to benefit from the European Union’s intellectual property agreement, which provide simultaneous registration in 28 countries by only one registration as well its affordable cost especially considering the large area of protection. Thus the registration in EUIPO is considered a very profitable way, the process just takes approximately 6 months. EUIPO agreements are effective in the United Kingdom until March, 2019. Registration with EUIPO does not insure that similar trademarks will be rejected in single European member states, so if you want to make the registration of your exclusive protection in particular jurisdictions, it is best to register with the local national intellectual property office as well.

When it comes to marketing your products or services in the Latin world, you should consider registering your mark in Mexico which has highest population of Spanish speakers in the world with over than 120 million inhabitants. Mexico’s legislation was recently reformed, aligning the process for registration closely with that of the United States. The average time for procedures of registering is approximately 12 months.

If you are offering products or services on the African continent, you can take advantage from a very important regional agreement which is the OAPI in Africa that is considered a fruitful way for investment. This agreement enables you to gain protection in 17 different countries which are ”Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo” just by one registration application. The estimated time to complete the procedures varies between 6 and 12 months.

It is an another giant Asian country which plays an internationally important role for China and the rest of the world through its prominent position in the international trade. The process for registration takes between 6 and 12 months.

Finally, through the previous list we have covered all the important countries that you should consider when thinking of registering your brand internationally due to its strategic position in global trade or wide scale of protection. Now you are on the right way to begin designing the proper strategy for your trademark protection, also it’s important to take into consideration if there is a certain country which is of particular interest to your business. At Youssef Hafez, we can guide you to determine the most strategic locations that would be most effective to protect your intellectual property, just contact with our professional consultants and let them handle everything properly.