Ready for a Portfolio Spring Clean? Here’s Why and How to Run a Trademark Audit

With spring fast approaching, now is the ideal time to clean your trademark portfolio. Questel’s Head of Trademark Services Architecture, Elena Galletti, explains why undertaking a trademark audit is so important and how to overcome common trademark cleaning challenges. 

In today’s fast-paced IP departments, it's not easy to prioritize or undertake trademark-cleaning exercises. However, a regular trademark audit is vital for ensuring not only that trademark portfolios are kept up to date, but also that the rights they contain are accurate, effectively maintained, and strategically aligned with business operations. 

By scheduling a trademark “spring clean,” you can sense-check and validate your portfolio, prioritize core rights, eliminate redundant registrations, and identify and fix any gaps in protection ready for the year ahead. The challenge facing IP owners is to find a clear window in which to schedule a trademark audit. 

5 Common Hurdles to Undertaking a Trademark Audit—and How to Overcome Them 

We commonly see five hurdles blocking IP owners from prioritizing their trademark audit project: 

• 1. Lack of time: Bombarded by daily emails and urgent tasks, finding the necessary time to plan, let alone implement a trademark audit, can seem impossible! 
• 2. Lack of resources: Depending on the size of your portfolio, trademark auditing can require the full-time attention of a dedicated resource. This is particularly the case if you hold rights across many different jurisdictions, given the variety of approaches to holding and archiving information. 
• 3. Lack of information: As not all trademark registries are digitalized you will have to deal directly with the local patent and trademark offices in some countries, adding an extra and time-consuming layer of administration to the project. 
• 4. Lack of budget: Obtaining the necessary data doesn’t always come for free either, with some countries requiring payment of a fee to the local agent or directly to the office. 
• 5. Lack of structure: It sounds obvious, but you need the right tools and approach to manage trademark cleaning efficiently. Any attempt to update 5,000 records using Excel risks descending quickly into chaos... 
   

Don’t let these five barriers stop you from realizing the benefits of a trademark audit! From access to specialist resources to automated validation, Questel can support you move your trademark spring clean from the bottom to the top of your to-do list this year. Our Trademark Administration Support specialists will work as a virtual IP team for your organization, planning and undertaking trademark cleaning projects on your behalf using our proven trademark auditing and validation processes and technologies. 

With our portfolio audit service, you can be sure your data is accurate and up to date, identify redundant and unused rights, and align your IP portfolio with your overall business goals—and that’s not all! We find that, on average, clients save 20% on the resources necessary to maintain their trademark portfolio simply by eliminating rights that are no longer relevant to their strategies.

Trademark Audit Best Practices: From Data Accuracy to Cost Control 

Data quality is pivotal to the success of any trademark portfolio management program. After all, if you cannot rely on concrete data, how can you avoid any loss or discrepancies in your portfolio? What about if you plan to license some of your rights? If you do not check your rights in advance and the data you rely on proves to be partially incorrect, you and your licensee could discover that the brand is not fully protected in their country only after it has been put into use. 

A data audit and validation project will enable you to avoid contractual issues and embarrassment by ensuring that the rights you hold and seek to license have been appropriately registered and maintained. 

As importantly, it will deliver the insights you need to make considerable cost savings. As mentioned earlier, you could save a potential 20% simply by eliminating redundant and unused rights. In addition, you could save further budget by reducing duplicate registrations; for example, by lapsing the number of national applications you hold in the European Union by claiming the seniority of registered EU trademarks (EUTMs). 

Don’t Delay Your Trademark Audit! 

Trademark spring cleans are a simple but fundamental exercise that will make your life easier, your budget lighter, and your brand protection strategy more efficient! Don’t miss your chance to undertake a much-needed trademark audit this year by reaching out to our Trademark Administration Support Subject Matter Experts today. 

Elena Galletti is the Head of Trademark Services Architecture at Questel.