Check your trade mark position before expanding into overseas markets

Businesses often run into trouble here when they assume a New Zealand trade mark position will translate neatly overseas. A brand may already be in use elsewhere, the local risk profile may be different, or your planned distribution and marketing arrangements may create exposure that was not obvious at home. This review is intended to flag those issues before you commit to packaging, contracts, launch spend or distributor discussions. It Your lawyer will explain the practical position and your options in plain English. in another country.

The review usually considers your existing trade mark assets, the countries you are targeting, and the way your brand will actually be used in those markets. That can include how goods or services are sold, whether local partners or distributors will be involved, and whether there are related privacy, employment or contract issues that could affect rollout. For import and export businesses, those surrounding facts can matter as much as the mark itself. The factual context and working arrangements often shape which risks are commercially important and which next steps are sensible.

A filing service is generally about lodging an application, while a basic search tends to answer a narrower availability question. This review is broader than that, but still centred on the review itself rather than ongoing international filing management. It looks at the legal and commercial setting around your expansion plans, including whether there are obvious pressure points in contracts, data handling or staffing arrangements that could affect brand rollout. If you later decide to pursue filings or need local counsel in a particular country, that would usually be a separate step.

Usually not very well. A generic checklist may prompt useful questions, but it will not reflect the countries you are entering, the way your products move through the supply chain, or the commercial structure behind your expansion. For example, the risk profile can differ depending on whether you are licensing the brand, appointing a distributor, selling direct online or using local staff or contractors. The right drafting and advice depend on the documents in play and on how your business actually operates, not just on a list of standard trade mark issues.

No. The fixed-fee is for the review work described on this page and the written recommendations that follow from it. It does not include filing or prosecuting overseas trade mark applications, representing you in disputes, handling technical implementation, managing security remediation, or acting on an ongoing basis after the review is delivered. Requirements can differ for Overseas Expansion Trade Mark Review depending on the authority involved, and any approval or registration outcome depends on the relevant authority and the facts in that market. If you need those next steps, we can discuss separate support.

Submit an enquiry on this page or click 'Get started'. One of our legal consultants will review it within 1 business day and get in touch to understand what you need.

Your consultant will then email you a fixed-fee quote setting out the cost, scope and timing. If you're happy with it, you can accept the quote and sign our engagement letter online.

Once you've accepted, one of our Australian-qualified lawyers will work with you to complete your project. They'll contact you by email or phone if they need anything.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Overseas Expansion Trade Mark Review service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We work online, so we can help wherever you are in New Zealand. Our team works remotely, mainly from Australia.

Your work is done by our Australian-qualified lawyers, who hold Australian practising certificates and specialise in business law. None of them are New Zealand lawyers or hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

Sprintlaw NZ Limited is a legal consultancy, not a law firm, and is not regulated by the New Zealand Law Society. We don't act in court or tribunal matters, conveyancing (including leases and business sales) or other reserved areas of work. Communications with Sprintlaw are unlikely to be protected by legal professional privilege. We still keep everything confidential under our engagement letter.