Menu
Companies regularly need to create new brands for new entities, products or services. They usually start a creative process and brainstorm to find the ideal name. This creative process can be carried out either in-house or with the help of external service providers.
Companies usually only look at the legal aspects once a trademark has been chosen. They often find that the trademark is not available or that objections to its registration can be raised. They then have to fall back on a second choice or to start the whole process again. This can have significant business and financial consequences for the company. It can for example be incompatible with the timing of the launch planned by the marketing teams.
This situation, often observed by Stéphanie Guichot, a lawyer specialising in Intellectual Property, gave rise to the idea of TradeYourMark®: offer companies looking for a new trademark the opportunity to purchase a dormant registered trademark. This approach allows them to save time and money. It also provides them with greater legal certainty because of the seniority of the acquired trademark.
By giving a second life to these trademarks, TradeYourMark® proposes an innovative approach. It is in line with the logic of upcycling and addresses the problem of the cluttering of trademark registers. TradeYourMark®’s approach provides simple and effective solutions. It is aimed at companies looking for a new trademark as well as those wishing to monetise their trademark portfolio.
In January 2023, TradeYourMark® was selected for the second consecutive year in the ranking of French legaltech made by Maddyness, la Banque des Territoires et Lamy Liaisons. TradeYourMark® is selected in the Protection of Immaterial Assets category.
TradeYourMark® was created in May 2021 by Stéphanie Guichot and Corinne Legrand. These two partners with complementary professional experience combine legal, strategic and IT expertise.
Stéphanie Guichot has been a member of the Paris Bar since 1990. She has been specialised in intellectual property law for over 30 years.
She advises, assists and represents French and international clients, particularly in the field of trademark law.
Corinne Legrand is a graduate of HEC and subsequently did a CAS in Applied Information Technology at ETH Zürich.
She has worked 30 years in the insurance and financial services sector. Since 2019, she has specialised in developing innovative technological solutions for her clients.
We work with a network of partners, nationally and internationally.
They monitor and manage the trademark portfolios of their clients. When trademarks have become dormant or redundant, the trademark owners might simply abandon them. However, another option is to monetise them to create value. They can then mandate us to sell these dormant or redundant trademarks. We can also offer them registered trademarks which are availabe and could be of interest to their clients.
We have partnerships with naming agencies. Naming agencies sometimes register trademarks, for example trademarks which have been created for a client but have not been selected by the client. Overtime, they can end up with a significant portfolio of registered trademarks and wish to monetise these assets. In other cases, naming agencies can be interested in finding an already registered trademark for clients who have budget or delay constraints.
Since the law of 28 Février 2022, immaterial assets such as patents, trademarks or NFT can be auctioned. This law creates new opportunities for owners of trademarks who want to monetise them. TradeYourMark® has strong links with an auction house specialised in corporate assets.
We offer our clients assistance in the purchase or sale of trademarks in all areas of activity. We provide our professional expertise, a personalised service and support throughout the process.
In one of our first projects, we assisted a local council buy a registered trademark in the property sector. Our current projects are very varied. We work in many different sectors, such as fashion, cosmetics, perfumes, energy, financial services and the pharmaceutical industry.
Regarding the sale of trademark, current projects include the sale of a portfolio of dormant trademarks for a leading pharmaceutical group. We have also been mandated by several liquidators to sell portfolios of trademarks held by companies which have become bankrupt.
Projects to buy trademarks include both standard projects and more tailored projects. In standard projects, we sell trademarks which are in our catalogue. We have a particularly strong demand from Chinese companies for this service. Tailored projects regard mainly companies looking for “sleeping beauty” brands, which have been famous in the paset but have disappeared.
