How it started
A small coffee shop, one location, nothing big. The owner came with a simple question: is it even worth registering the name while the business is still small? Many in his place would have put it off until “later, once I'm up and running”.
We checked the name against the trademark database, chose classes for the coffee shop and takeaway coffee, and filed the application. All the owner needed to give was one power of attorney.
What happened a few years later
The business took off: a second location opened, then a third. And then a coffee shop with exactly the same name opened nearby. Not a similar name, the very same one.
Without a registered mark, the owner would have had to prove he was the first to use the name, and his chances would have been much lower. Instead, he had a certificate with the filing date.
What we did
- Documented how the copy was using the name: signage, social media, menu.
- Prepared a demand letter citing the certificate and requiring the use to stop.
- Gave a reasonable deadline to change the name without going to court.
The copy dropped the name. It never got to court.
The takeaway
In Ukraine a trademark belongs to whoever filed first. Registering at the start costs many times less than a lawsuit or a rebrand. You can check your name for free: trademark search.
Other cases
A flat in a new build in Lviv: a check before paying→No. 017 · Immigration
Turnkey residence permit for a client from Peru→No. 029 · Corporate
A company in Ukraine for a client from Germany→№ 036 · IT
Software development agreement: Poland to Ukraine→No. 044 · Corporate
A restaurant in Lviv for an investor from China→
I don't name clients. Everything else I tell as it was.