Protecting a working time model as a trademark

The name of a working time model can be protected as a trademark – provided that it is not merely a descriptive indication. It may be questionable for which products, i.e. for which goods or services, trademark protection is to be obtained. In principle, trademarks can be protected for goods and services that are offered on the market and purchased or used by third parties. A working time model that is used in a company’s own operations is therefore not a good or service that is acquired from or used by a third party.

If, for example, the working time model is developed by an agency for its customers and used by the customers, trademark protection in favor of the agency comes into consideration, for example for human resources services. However, the trademark protection acquired by the agency cannot be enforced against companies that use the name of the working time model to designate it, but do not use the agency’s services in doing so.

In such a case, the use of the name of the working time model is merely an internal company designation which is not used in the course of business in a trademark-like manner for the offering and marketing of goods or services. For this reason, trademark protection is likely to be of little importance to the agency.

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