I’m currently a bit stumped about how Trademarks are supposed to work and what can be trademarked.
The User Guide says
Holding Companies can trademark their names.
[…]
Individual business names cannot be trademarked. Only Holding Company Names can […]
but when I look at the registered trademarks in the game, it looks like the “Trademark office” is just rubber-stamping every trademark application as-is, including marketing slogans, Business names, and special word spellings.
Is this intentional and permanent, so a lawsuit would ultimately decide whether or not a trademark is actually valid, is it just temporary, so it doesn’t cost manpower that’s needed elsewhere while still being technically operational, or is there another reason for this difference?
Also, since there is an Expiry date column in the list of trademarks in-game, is it possible to extend a trademark? And if so, how? Is it simply handled as a new registration of a trademark? Does the trademark have to be active or expired when the new registration is handed in?
Thanks to everyone who can shed a bit of light on these matters!