Patent Attorney and Founder
So what happens if someone registers your trademark in another country?
Let’s break it down with an example.
Say you’ve got “Bob’s Soda” in the U.S. It’s a registered trademark for—you guessed it—soda. Now someone in the U.K. wants to use the name “Bob’s” for their own product. Maybe it’s not even a drink. Maybe it’s soap or snacks or something totally different.
Can they register it?
Yeah, probably.
Trademarks are tied to two things:
- The country you register in
- The class of goods or services
So if you own a U.S. trademark, that doesn’t give you rights in the U.K. It’s not like a passport—you don’t get automatic coverage worldwide.
If someone in another country registers your brand name for something similar—or even the same thing—you might be out of luck, unless you’ve already registered there.
Here’s the part where it gets interesting:
Let’s say you own “Bob’s Soda” in the U.S., and you want to stop someone in the U.K. from using it. You’d need to register your trademark there before they do. That’s where international filings come in.
One option is the Madrid Protocol. It’s a system that lets you file in multiple countries, all through a single application. If you do it within six months of your original U.S. filing, you can keep your earlier filing date as your “priority” date—even in other countries.
Why does that matter?
Because let’s say someone files for “Bob’s” in the U.K. three months after you file in the U.S. If you then use Madrid to file in the U.K. within six months, your date beats theirs. You win.
Smart move, right?
This kind of situation comes up a lot. We’ve had clients run into it, where someone else has their brand overseas. But if you haven’t filed there, it’s a race—and the other person might win just by being first.
Bottom line:
If you’re serious about protecting your brand internationally, don’t wait. Register in the countries you care about before someone else does.