São Paulo · Brazil
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Cases · Technology & intellectual property · Trademarks, brands & counterfeiting
Stop a copycat brand in another market
Someone is selling under our brand in another country. How do we stop them?
WONE Global has an IP professional in that market establish your rights, file opposition, cancellation or customs action in the right order, and negotiate or litigate a buy-back if that is faster.
Countries in the typical case France · United Arab Emirates
The situation
What is happening
A competitor or distributor is selling under your brand, or something confusingly close, in a market where you have no registration.
What is at stake
Every month the copycat trades, they take sales and reputation, and if they own the registration they can block your own goods.
Who faces this
- Corporations
- Mid-sized companies
- Founders and growing companies
A scenario
Cosmetics brandMid-sized company · from France · in United Arab Emirates
Its former Gulf distributor has registered the brand in its own name and is using the registration to block the brand's own imports. Sales in the region have stopped.
Where it ends The brand back in the company's name and imports moving again.
A representative scenario of the work WONE Global coordinates, not a specific client’s matter.
Also asked as “Our former distributor registered our trade mark abroad”“A competitor copied our brand overseas”“A competitor is using a confusingly similar brand name”“Our trademark has been filed by someone else in another country”“An overseas distributor is misusing our trademark”“A competitor has copied distinctive product packaging”“A franchisee refuses to stop using our brand after termination”
The solution
How WONE Global handles it
WONE Global has an IP professional in that market establish your rights, file opposition, cancellation or customs action in the right order, and negotiate or litigate a buy-back if that is faster.
Usually led by Intellectual Property & Brand Protection, with Disputes & Resolution, Legal & Contracting and Trade, Customs & Supply Chain.
Step by step, in the scenario
- First daysAn IP professional in the UAE confirms the registration and the brand’s prior use and reputation.
- Weeks 1-2Cancellation action filed; customs told the real owner’s position.
- Weeks 2-6Negotiation with the distributor runs in parallel: assignment back or litigation.
- ThenRegistrations filed in the other Gulf countries so it cannot happen again.
Timings are typical. They depend on the countries, the authorities involved and how quickly documents are available.
Decisions
The decisions involved
- 01Whether you hold rights there through registration, use or reputation
- 02Opposition, cancellation, customs action or court proceedings, and in what order
- 03Whether to settle, buy back the mark or litigate
Outcomes
What you receive
- An assessment of your rights in that market
- Filed opposition, cancellation or enforcement action
- A registration plan so it cannot happen elsewhere
This is a general guide. Your WONE Global professional confirms the work, timing and fees for your markets before anything starts.
Services
The services involved
One area of expertise usually leads; the others move with it. WONE Global keeps them connected across every country involved.
Who handles it
Intellectual Property & Brand Protection, market by market
The status of the lead service in the markets that matter for this case. A named WONE Global Partner acts under their own licence; where none is in place yet, WONE Global confirms availability before anything else.
- Francein the typical case On request Availability confirmed before any work begins Bring a requirement →
- United Arab Emiratesin the typical case On request Availability confirmed before any work begins Bring a requirement →
- Brazil WONE Global Partner Luis Felipe Balieiro Lima · Partner Brief this Partner →
- Poland WONE Global Partner Andrzej Zacharzewski · Partner Brief this Partner →
- South Africa WONE Global Partner Kameel Keshav CA(SA) · Managing Partner Brief this Partner →
- Uganda WONE Global Partner Tony Galandi Kiire · Managing Partner Brief this Partner →
- India On request Availability confirmed before any work begins Bring a requirement →
- Saudi Arabia On request Availability confirmed before any work begins Bring a requirement →
- Singapore On request Availability confirmed before any work begins Bring a requirement →
- United Kingdom On request Availability confirmed before any work begins Bring a requirement →
- United States On request Availability confirmed before any work begins Bring a requirement →
Other markets: WONE Global covers 100 countries. Name yours in the requirement →
São Paulo · Brazil
Kraków · Poland
Johannesburg · South Africa
Kampala · Uganda
Palermo · ArgentinaWONE Global Partner · Argentina
Dr. Silvia Patricia Maccari
She is a lawyer, graduated from the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires. She took his first steps in the nation\'s judiciary, in the National Labor Court, where he developed a rapid care…
Brunswick · AustraliaWONE Global Partner · Australia
Dimitrios Katsaros
Discover
Where this case connects
The markets, corridors and guides behind this case, and the questions to put to Ask WONE below. Every link opens a page that links back here.
Markets in the typical case
Corridors
Services and subject
Worked examples
How it goes in practice
Researched corridor journeys, and representative scenarios on the same subject. None is a specific client’s matter.
- India ↔ United Arab Emirates · researched journeyAn Indian manufacturer sets up a UAE regional hubRead the journey →
- UAE ↔ Europe · researched journeyA UAE company sets up a GmbH in GermanyRead the journey →
- Mid-sized company · from Spain · in ChinaIt finds that a local importer has already filed its brand in China.How WONE Global handles it →
Trademarks, brands & counterfeiting
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WONE Global Intelligence
Ask about doing business across borders
Ask in your own words. Answers come from WONE Global's checked records, with every source shown, and end with the named Partner who can act. Go deeper on any point, or build a decision file.
UNIONE™ · Before You Arbitrate™
If this becomes a dispute, test it first.
Test the claim or the defence, the evidence, the exposure and the settlement options before committing to formal proceedings.
01 · Before signatureBefore You Sign™Get the dispute clause, governing law, seat, notices and escalation steps right while the contract can still change.Review the contract 02 · A dispute is emergingBefore You Arbitrate™Test the claim or the defence, the evidence, the exposure and the settlement options before committing to formal proceedings.Test the claim 03 · A binding decision is neededArbitrationStart, answer or run an administered arbitration under the UNIONE™ Rules, with procedure sized to the value, urgency and evidence.Open arbitration 04 · Before enforcementBefore You Enforce™Plan recognition, assets, jurisdiction and security, including State and State-owned parties, before committing to enforcement.Plan recovery
For this moment
Before You Arbitrate™Independent Assessment™Claim Viability™, Defence Exposure™, Evidence Gap Map™ and Settle or Proceed™, before money is committed to proceedings.Before You Arbitrate™Structured Resolution™Mediation, neutral evaluation and expert determination, run to a timetable.
UNIONE™ is the UNBOUNDED™ Global Ecosystem's institution for cross-border dispute prevention, resolution, arbitration and enforcement. Like WONE Global, it is part of the ecosystem, and the two work as one. Links open theunione.org. Visit UNIONE™