In which The Bunny Maker gets all tangled up again. Ho hum

If it's not the CE Testing getting me all confizzled and confuzzled it's blooming Trade Marking.  I'm ignoring the CE problem at the moment and have buried my head in the proverbial sand.  Trade Marking has been bothering me for ages.  But what does it all mean?  Sit down and I will tell you.  By the way, how long have you got?

This might be something that a Widget and Friends trade mark could look like ..

Oh headache.  It's all a headache.  Every single thing I try to do with all this handmade, selling thingy malarky, involves first teaching myself all about it.  Which means googling, reading, head-scratching and asking. Luckily I have a weakness for books and the staff in my local Waterstones greet me by name.  Sigh. 
Now - I could apply for my own Trade Mark myself.  I've done all the research I can, read all the books - and i'm still not 100% certain of what I am doing.  I 'get' doing the UK registration and doing it myself would cost me around £300, and that is just for protection in the UK.  Getting someone to do it for me will cost me around £600. When I have UK protection I can then apply for European and international protection

I THINK (and don't quote me on this) this can be done via something called the Madrid Protocol, which is an agreement that lots of countries signed to show that they agree on something. 
As far as I can make out it is done country by country - and if I tick them all I clock up £1000s.  So which ones do I choose?  I have no idea.  Anyway, I have had a quote for registration within the EU for about £1,400.  So, we are up to £2000 already.  SOB.

Why am I bothering?  No idea.  I will just hate myself forever if I walk in to Clinton's Cards and see their new Easter range of sock bunnies, all looking exactly like one of mine.
I already have design registration and that, combined with a trade mark, legally prevents anyone making and selling anything looking, resembling or eluding to one of my bunnies or my company. You know when they ask on Dragons' Den?  About protection?  This is what they mean.  Not that I would have any money whatsoever to fight a large company anyway BUT at least I couldn't kick myself for not having done as much as I could.

I may be going nowhere but it's MY design, MY idea and MY hard-work.  Grump.

Everything you need to confuse yourself is HERE >>>> www.ipo.gov.co.uk

NEWSFLASH UPDATE:  I've done another U-turn - scared at the last - decided to abandon the above idea and spend some money at Fabric Rehab instead (and buy a new pair of jeans).