Trademark Protection

From my experience of Trademark Attorney handling worldwide trademark portfolios, I have noticed that many small or middle sized companies do not protect their trademarks abroad before entering into negotiations with new partners in a foreign country. In many countries, trademark protection is obtained through registration and prior use is not required and does not confer rights. It is therefore highly recommended to secure the trademark protection first, because a third party could file the trademark, and it could be sometimes impossible to cancel this prior trademark. Therefore, before checking opportunities in a foreign market, the companies should carefully review whether they are correctly protected in the country of interest.