What an assessment is and what it costs

An assessment is Demarka’s paid, in-depth answer to “can I register this?”.

What it covers

One assessment analyses one mark in one jurisdiction, across the classes you selected. It combines two kinds of analysis:

• Absolute grounds — is the mark itself registrable in that country? Distinctiveness, descriptiveness, deceptiveness, public order, prohibited elements, geographical indications, linguistic and cultural context, personality rights, well-known marks and, where relevant, surname significance.
• Relative grounds — which earlier marks could realistically block you, how similar they are visually, phonetically and conceptually, and how far the goods overlap.

It then produces a Registration Outlook, a per-class forecast with a success chance, and concrete recommendations.

What it costs

One credit per jurisdiction. Assessing one name in five countries costs five credits and produces five reports, grouped into a bundle.

The credit is charged when the assessment is created, not when it finishes. If a jurisdiction fails for a technical reason, that credit is refunded automatically.

The European Union is a special case worth knowing:

• European Union as a single target = one report on an EU trademark covering all 27 member states = 1 credit.
• Each member state separately = 27 reports = 27 credits.

The assessment wizard offers to collapse a full EU selection into the single-report option, and lets you opt back out.

How long it takes

Minutes, not hours. Reports are generated in the background — you can close the page and come back. When they are ready you get an in-app notification and, if your email is confirmed, an email with a per-country table of outcomes.

If a report is still stuck after two hours, Demarka fails it automatically and refunds the credit.

What it does not do

• It is not legal advice, and not a binding opinion.
• It does not file anything. Filing is a separate step, handled by a trademark attorney.
• It does not predict whether a particular owner will actually oppose you. It tells you whether they would have grounds.

When it is worth a credit

Run an assessment when a name has survived a search and you are about to spend real money — on filing fees, on a rebrand, on packaging. A credit is a small fraction of what a refused application costs in fees and lost time.