Trademark Assignment Explained

Trademark Filing (also known as Applying for Registration, Submitting the Trademark Application, etc.)

A trademark assignment happens when the owner of the trademark is changed. The previous owner can sell the trademark or transfer it without any compensation.

How to assign a trademark?

Your attorney must submit a deed of trademark assignment along with a request to change the ownership. Additional documents might be required.

• Who can transfer the trademark? The original owner (the assignor) or new owner (the assignee) can request the assignment, however, the documents must be signed by representatives of each party. It’s similar to selling a house, without the consent of the original owner the trademark can’t be transferred.
• What is the price? The price for recording a trademark assignment is rather low and usually around US$200-300 per trademark. But it’s for the cases when all the documents are in order. If one party requires additional services, such as drafting a Deed of Assignment, translating documents, etc., the price can increase considerably.
• What documents are required? A deed of assignment also known as an assignment agreement. This is an agreement confirming the fact of the transfer of ownership and conditions of the transfer. The document must be in the official language of the country. This is the main document to record the trademark assignment, however, additional documents might be required. Changing of ownership is a rather complex process and can require additional notarization/legalization of the documents.
• How much time does it take? The time may greatly vary. It can be as fast as a few minutes and as slow as a year. Ask us for more details.

Do you have to perform a trademark assignment?

That’s a common error not to transfer the trademark after a company was merged or acquired. It appears to be complex, expensive and some just forget to complete the assignment. This might lead to countless legal problems and even to losing the trademark completely. If it is difficult to transfer the trademark at the moment of selling the company, imagine how comlex this will be years after.

The documents are prepared by local attorneys as there are local requirements and it’s next to impossible to draft a deed of assignment for all countries. We can assign your trademark in 200+ countries.