In construction a trademark is less a matter of consumer preference than the carrier of corporate trust. A buyer purchasing a home that has not yet been built is, in reality, trusting the firm's name.
That produces two sector-specific consequences:
- Poor work by a similarly named firm can rub off on your reputation.
- The mark is assessed as part of corporate identity in tender and partnership processes.
Which classes you need — the 37 / 36 / 42 distinction — is covered in Which Trademark Class Do Construction Companies Fall Into?
A Trade Name Is Not a Trademark
In this sector the company name is commonly identical to the trade name, which leads to a widespread misconception: registration of a trade name in the commercial registry gives no trademark right over that name.
They are different institutions:
- A trade name is the company's name in commercial life; it is registered in the commercial registry and, as a rule, protected within that registry district.
- A trademark is a sign distinguishing goods and services; it is registered before TÜRKPATENT and protected nationwide.
See Trade Name, Business Name and Trademark.
Company Mark or Project Mark?
A strategic question peculiar to construction. The two serve different functions:
| Company mark | Project mark | |
|---|---|---|
| Lifespan | Permanent | Limited to the sales period |
| Value carried | Corporate reputation | Promotion of one development |
| Scope | Spreads across all projects | Specific to one project |
| Priority | First | If budget allows |
Priority lies, as a rule, with the company mark: it is permanent, it spreads across every project, and it is used in tender, partnership and financing processes.
Registering a project mark makes sense for large developments carrying a serious marketing budget. But bear two costs in mind: protection runs for ten years and must be renewed; and marks not put to genuine use for five years in the goods and services registered are open to a revocation request (Article 26).
A project mark unused after the development is finished is therefore not sustainable in the long run. An approach to managing a multi-brand structure: Trademark Portfolio Management.
When Should You File?
The right moment is before the first project is marketed. The reason is that trademark rights arise, as a rule, on registration and the order of filing is decisive. Once advertising begins and a sales office opens, the name becomes visible; at that point the chance that someone else has registered it rises.
The typical mistake in the sector is to leave registration until "things settle down", and to act only when a similarly named firm appears on the first large project.
Sector-Specific Risks
Distinctiveness
Terms such as "Construction", "Build", "Real Estate", "Property", "Residence", "Homes" and "Group" carry no distinctiveness on their own. Geographical names are not distinctive on their own either.
The similarity assessment is made on the core word that remains after those elements are stripped out: an application for "ARYA CONSTRUCTION" does not escape an earlier "ARYA". For the full set of grounds see Why Are Trademark Applications Refused?
Family and surname marks
Company names in this sector are commonly family surnames. You may register your own surname, but an earlier registration of the same surname by someone else is an obstacle: Can You Register Your Own Name?
Partnership break-ups
Project-based partnerships are common in construction. Where a partnership ends, the question of who keeps the mark is answered by whose name it was registered in. This is a matter to be dealt with expressly in partnership agreements.
The Brand as a Balance-Sheet Asset
In construction firms a trademark can be an asset subject to valuation in sale and partnership discussions. A name that is not registered cannot be shown as an identifiable asset on the balance sheet.
See How Trademark Valuation Works.
Before You File
Similar names are dense in classes 37 and 36. A similar-mark search in both classes before filing shows the opposition risk in advance.
Let Us Protect Your Corporate Brand
Share your field of activity and project plans, and our trademark registration team will set the priority between company and project marks with you.