Trademarks for start-ups and online shops: a practical guide

For a start-up or an online shop, the name is often the most valuable asset: it is the domain, the social media profile, the name of the app and what customers search for online. Yet it is precisely such businesses that often put off protecting their trademark “until later” – until the name becomes known and someone else notices it before them.

Choose a name that can be protected

Descriptive names – “Online Shop”, “Fast Food”, “Taxi App” – are easy to remember, but difficult or impossible to register, because they simply say what you sell. A name that is invented or unusual for your sector is stronger and easier to protect. If the name has a meaning in another language, bear in mind that the translation is also stated in the application.

Check before you invest

Before you buy the domain, order the logo or launch advertising, check the name in the public search: the trademarks of Albania and Kosovo and the QKB and ARBK businesses, in a single search. Also search for spelling and pronunciation variants. A conflict discovered today costs far less than a name change after a year of growth.

Classes for an online shop

• Class 35 is essential: the online sale of goods and marketplace platforms are retail and commercial intermediation services. The terms show what you sell – clothing, electronics, cosmetics, food or furniture.
• Class 42 is recommended when the platform or sales site itself is offered as a software service (SaaS, hosting).
• Class 39 protects the delivery and packaging of orders, if you do them yourself.
• Goods classes: if you sell products under your own brand – e.g. clothing with your own label, in class 25 – protect the products themselves too.

Classes for an app or SaaS

• Class 9 – the app or downloadable software counts as goods.
• Class 42 – software development and providing software online without download: SaaS, PaaS and artificial intelligence as a service.
• The class of the service the app provides – e.g. if the app organises deliveries, bookings or training, also consider the classes of those services.

The AI class agent in the trademark.al form recognises these activities – online shop, marketplace, app, SaaS – and proposes the classes to you with the official WIPO 2026 terms, divided into core, recommended and defensive. Read more in The Nice Classification.

Who should own the trademark

In many start-ups, the name is born before the company. Decide clearly whether the trademark will be in the name of the company or of one of the founders: the owner of the trademark is the one who holds the rights in it. For a project with several founders and investors, a trademark in the company's name makes it clearer who it belongs to. If the owner changes, the trademark can be transferred with “Transfer of Ownership”.

When the time comes for an investment or a major partnership, the question “who owns the trademark and where is it registered?” comes up quickly. A trademark registered in the company's name, in the right classes and in the markets where you operate, is a clear answer and part of the project's value.

Territory: Albania, Kosovo and beyond

Online shops often sell across the border. Trademark protection is territorial: a trademark at DPPI protects in Albania, while Kosovo requires an application to KIPA. For other countries you can use the Madrid System, of which Albania is a member – but Kosovo is not, so it always requires a national application. The right of priority gives you 6 months from the first application to apply in other member countries of the Paris Convention, keeping the first date.

After registration

• Use the trademark as you registered it and keep evidence of use: a trademark not used for 5 years may be revoked.
• Monitor new trademarks and companies with a similar name, so that you can oppose within 3 months of publication.
• Act when someone uses your trademark without permission, online too.
• Renew it every 10 years.

Typical start-up mistakes

• Launching before searching. The domain is bought and the social media profiles are opened within a day, but that tells you nothing about registered trademarks. Checking the registers comes first.
• Only the logo. If you register only the logo and change it later, the name may be left unprotected. A name you will use for years is better protected as a word mark too.
• Forgotten classes. A platform that registers only class 35 and forgets class 42 – or an app that forgets class 9 – leaves gaps precisely where competition is strongest.
• Rights in the logo. If the logo was created for you by an external designer, make sure by contract that the rights in it pass to you. Copyright in the drawing arises with its creator; the trademark is registered in the name of the owner you choose.
• Only one country. Online sales cross borders quickly; protection does not. Plan for Albania, Kosovo and the other markets you are targeting from the start.

Quick checklist for founders

1. A distinctive name, not a descriptive one.
2. A search in the trademarks of Albania and Kosovo and in the registered businesses.
3. The correct classes for the product, the platform and the services.
4. The right owner of the trademark.
5. An application before launch, in every territory where you sell.
6. Monitoring after filing.

When you are ready, create an account and fill in the 9-step form – you can save it as a draft and continue whenever you like.