Best Practice for PropTech Trademark Protection

The PropTech industry is gaining more popularity by the day. With many factors affecting your startup, PropTech trademark protection is essential.

Almost everything in the world has now been digitalized. From food technology to financial services, it's all digitalized. We have many e-services available today which were not accessible a few years ago. With everything becoming more digitalized, unsurprisingly, the real estate business has also joined the bandwagon.

The real estate business has been digitalized to the extent that nowadays, you can rent property online and have several other real estate services made available to you. You can sell your real estate, value it and manage it all over the internet. Digital real estate solutions have made it possible for anyone to have services regarding real estate available on their laptop and smartphone.

You can find rentable properties all over the world to rent over the internet. Most hotel chains globally have been taken over by Airbnb. Airbnb offers almost 3 million rooms over the world, available for customers to rent. The process of digitalized real estate is known as “proptech,” made up for the words property and technology.

Real estate is a precarious and high-trust business. People do not want real estate services from someone they do not trust. Security for property rentals has become an integral part of the real estate industry. Customers tend to do real estate business with the people that they have their complete trust in. This is because customers do not want you to handle the management and property dealing of their multi-million properties if you do not promise security and protection.

When it comes to your proptech brand, PropTech trademark registration is essential for your business. To run a successful business in the proptech industry, you must maintain the exclusive rights of your brand. When you are the sole owner of your trademark, this gives your clients the impression that you are a professional PropTech business. Because of this, your customers can trust you for real estate management.

How to ensure PropTech trademark protection?

As discussed earlier, having a real estate trademark for your proptech company is essential. Trademark makes sure that you have all the rights to your business so no other person would be able to use the trademark of your proptech company. To ensure the protection of your proptech trademark, here are a few tips and tricks for you.

1. Find A Unique Name

A good PropTech trademark is not only distinct and fanciful but also gives your customers a hint of what your business has to offer. Find a trademark that appeals to your audience and lets them know what services and products your business is providing. To do this, you should understand your key audience and market to develop a suitable trademark. Research trademark options to choose from and look at your competitors to understand how they approach their clients through trademarks. When you have thoroughly researched your trademark, choose the best one to give your customers clarity about you and your business.

2. Identify Trademark Classes

After choosing the best trademark, make sure to register your trademark in the key market. To do this, study the key market and find the most suitable option for you. For this reason, the key market is divided into several "classes" used for different products and services. These product categories, known as trademark classes, offer your trademark registration according to the distinction of your business. Research the trademark classes and then get your trademark registered. The most suitable trademark classes for PropTech are:

• Computer and Software Products and Electrical and Scientific Products (Class 9) - if you offer any kinds of software or applications in your startup. Class 9 is used to register the trademarks which come under the category of applications and software.
• Advertising, Business and Retail Services (Class 35) - This class covers the renting of properties. You will offer rental services in your proptech company, as it is an essential part of a proptech business. 
• Insurance and Financial Services (Class 36) - It would be beneficial for your business if you also offer services relating to real estate brokerage. The businesses offering real estate brokerage are covered under class 36.
• Construction and Repair Services (Class 37) - This class covers the trademark protection of startups which includes real estate management. Real estate management is also a crucial part of any proptech business, this wil also protect you if you offer real estate maintenance to your customers.
• Computer and Software Services and Scientific Services (Class 42) -As discussed earlier, digital services in modern companies and startups help them grow to a large extent. You need to provide digital services and SaaS services, so your trademark may be registered and protected under this class.

3. Apply for Proptech Trademark Registration

After going through all the distinctive classes of trademark registration, apply for the ones you think would be the best for you. Certain different key markets have different trademark classes, so find the trademark class most suitable for you and then apply for protection under the specific class, so your trademark is protected under those classes. Also, remember that you can apply for trademark registration in all EU countries with only one application if you want to market your business in the EU markets.

4. Monitor your Trademark

After successfully getting your trademark registered, you need to keep a check on your trademark, so no one steals your brand name and ruins your business reputation. Keep a balanced check system for your trademark.

Contact a trademark adviser