The setup
A brand owner finds a product that looks like theirs. Before the firm writes a letter it has to know what rights exist, in which jurisdictions, and how similar the two really are, element by element. The volume on both sides keeps growing.
- $467bnglobal trade in counterfeit goods in 2021OECD and EUIPO, Mapping Global Trade in Fakes 2025
- 4.7%of goods imported into the EU are counterfeitOECD and EUIPO, Mapping Global Trade in Fakes 2025
- 173,180trade mark applications filed in the UK in 2024UK Intellectual Property Office, Facts and Figures 2024
The problem
The fakes keep coming and the registers keep growing, and each assessment is still built by hand: one element, one register, one jurisdiction at a time, with registration numbers copied rather than checked.
Global trade in counterfeit and pirated goods, USD billion
- 4612.5%2013
- 5093.3%2016
- 4642.5%2019
- 4672.3%2021
Source: OECD and EUIPO: Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods (2016), Trends in Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods (2019), Global Trade in Fakes (2021) and Mapping Global Trade in Fakes (2025). Upper-bound estimates; shares are of world trade.
The UK trade mark register in 2024
Source: UK Intellectual Property Office, Facts and Figures 2024
How it is done today
The assessment is a memo written from scratch, and the search behind it lives in the lawyer's browser history.
- 01
Collect the client's photographs
and the client's own registrations
- 02
Search each register by hand
one element, one jurisdiction at a time
- 03
Compare by eye
notes in a document, no structure
- 04
Write the memo
registration numbers copied, not checked
- 05
The partner reviews
without the search record
What we built
Signum breaks the accused product into its elements, searches each against the registers in play, and scores the questions a court would ask with the evidence beneath each score. What comes out is an assessment the lawyer challenges line by line and signs.
-
01
The matter is opened
- Parties
- Goods
- Jurisdictions
- Photographs
-
02
The product is broken into elements
- Word marks
- Devices
- Shapes
- Colours
- Get-up
-
03
Registers are searched
- National registers
- EUIPO
- WIPO
- Office record linked
-
04
The questions are scored
- Mark similarity
- Goods similarity
- Confusion
- Earlier right
-
05
A lawyer signs
- PDF or Word
- In the firm's form
- Full search record
The result
An assessment, not a verdict, with the search record attached.
| Step | Today | With Signum |
|---|---|---|
| Element search | By hand, one register at a time | Every element, every register in play |
| Register entries | Copied into the memo | Linked to the office record, with verification status |
| Scoring | In the lawyer's head | The questions a court would ask, each with its evidence |
| Output | A memo from scratch | The firm's form, PDF or Word, with the full search record |
| Sign-off | A memo to trust | An assessment the lawyer challenges line by line and signs |
In pilot with a law firm, in its own installation in the EU.
Run it on a live infringement matter.
If your firm wants to test a source-linked assessment on one of its own brand or design matters, we would like to hear from you.
info@vantapointlabs.com