What is a trademark assignment?

A trademark assignment is a document that is the grounds for the transfer of trademark ownership. It specifies the detail of the transfer, the assignor (the previous owner) and the assignee (the new owner). There are four types of trademark assignments:

• complete - where all trademark rights are transferred, including royalties, rights to issue further transfers, etc.,
• partial - where only access to certain goods or services is transferred,
• assignment with goodwill - where the new owner is granted the right to use the trademark in relation to the same products and services as the assignor, meaning the assignee is allowed to retain the brand value of the trademark,
• assignment without goodwill - where the assignee is not permitted to use the trademark in connection with the goods or services used by the assignor, thereby obtaining the trademark but not the brand value associated with it.

If you're interested in transferring the ownership of your trademark, our legal services offering includes the preparation of an assignment agreement.