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World 2 · Name Detective · Lesson 08

Launching a brand across several countries

Order, timing and language matter as much as the name itself when you take a brand abroad.

  • 5 min
  • Jurisdictions: International / treaty, Australia, Vietnam
  • Last reviewed: 18 October 2026

Draft — awaiting editorial review

Educational content, not legal advice. Lessons are drafts awaiting editorial review.

You will learn to

  • Explain first-to-file and the risk that comes with it.
  • Use the Paris Convention priority period in a launch plan.
  • Check meaning, transliteration and online channels in each market.

Who files first often wins

Many countries, including Vietnam, apply first-to-file: when two people apply for the same or a similar mark, the earlier filer is usually preferred. A brand well known in Australia but not filed in Vietnam can be registered there by someone else first. Australia is different: the first person to use a mark can own it even against an earlier filer — but registration remains the clearest route to exclusivity.

Six months of priority

Under the Paris Convention, after your first trademark filing in a member country you have six months to file in other member countries and still claim the first filing date (twelve months for patents). That window is valuable time to test markets without someone filing in between.

Language, meaning and online channels

Check whether the name has a negative or comic meaning in the new market, how it is pronounced and transliterated, and whether a translated version is already registered. Check country domains, social handles and marketplace listings too — they are not trademarks, but they shape the launch.

Try a scenario

A Brisbane snack brand filed its Australian trademark four months ago. It plans to sell in Vietnam and Singapore next year.

What is the most useful advice right now?

Check your understanding

ModeSee the explanation after each question.

Pass mark: 80% — for this lesson that means every question.

Question 1 of 4Under the Paris Convention, how long is the priority period for trademarks?

Take away

Plan filings by market, mark the six-month priority deadline, and check the name's meaning in each language.

Apply it to your IP

Nothing runs or is saved on its own. Each option only opens a tool when you choose it.

What this lesson cannot tell you

An international filing strategy depends on budget, markets and each country's law. This lesson is not a filing plan for your business.

Official references