What is a Trademark?
“A trademark, in general, refers to a “brand” or “logo”.
For a business name, distinctive catchphrases, taglines or captions, trademark registration may also be sought.
Properly used and promoted, a trademark will become a company’s most valuable asset. Trademarks such as Coca-Cola, HP, Canon, Nike, and Adidas act as both an indicator of the products’ origin and a quality indication.
Under the Trademarks Act, it is also necessary to secure trademark registration for the firm name/trade name. Registration under the Companies Act of a firm or business name does not in itself offer protection to those that may start using identical or similar marks.
What can be registered as a trademark?
You may register as a trademark any word, name, device, label, numerals or a mixture of colors that can be graphically represented. The trademark to be registered must therefore be distinctive in reference to the facilities or products on which registration is proposed.
What is a trademark class?
In order to standardize the products or services covered by a trademark, the register of trademarks has a list of 45 classes in which all types of goods and services are represented. The application for a trademark must apply to the type of products or services represented by the trademark in one or more of the classes. For the particular class of product or service, trademark registration is issued.
The unique identification that makes your product or service stand out from the others can be described as a trademark. A logo, image, slogan, word, tone, scent, color combination or graphics can be a unique identification or expression. Many companies usually search only for logo registration or name registration. If you have come up with a new concept or logo, filing it as a trademark is the only way to secure it as your own unique name. A registered trademark is intellectual property or intangible product of your company. It serves as a protective cover for the investment made in the logo or name by the company.
Trademarks are registered in India by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks of the Government of India, Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Under the act called The Trademark Act, 1999, you can register a trademark. The right to sue against those who want to copy your trademark is granted by the registry. Also, no one else can use a trademark identical to that owned by another person. If a trademark has been registered, you can use the R symbol for it and it will be valid for up to 10 years from the date of registration. But, it takes up to 2 years to get a ®. If the registration of a trademark is approaching its expiry date, you should still get it re-registered for another ten years.
Importance of Trademark
They build market awareness
Trademarking gives the protection of the name to startups. In spite of their competitors, one makes its services and goods unique by trademarking a brand name, being their intellectual property. It keeps competitors from copying or stealing their brand by doing so.
It is an encouragement to staff to participate
It’s critical for startups when they have a trademark to retain a good image. When an organization enjoys a positive name, individuals are willing to partner for and with them. This applies, even more, when it comes to the extension. As a start-up, if an organization wants to expand, more jobs are a must. This results in the need for a budget.
Your brand’s defense
A trademark that is registered establishes control of the brand, name or logo. It defends the name from any unwanted third-party use. The registered trademark shows that you are wholly owned by the product and that you have exclusive rights to use, offer and change the name or products in whatever way you choose.
Provides Brand Uniqueness
Like an organization wants a name or logo that sticks out, which separates the brand from that of others, a brand that is distinctive and distinct must be registered. Hence, a registered trademark gives the company a distinct name.
Safeguarding a reputation
Safeguarding the name of a brand is another benefit that trademark registration provides. Lamborghini, for instance, is an expensive luxury sports car brand that costs a great deal of money. Today, if a maker with a less costly vehicle wishes to apply the Lamborghini name to it, the manufacturer will experience a significant loss of prestige. It would not be possible for discerning consumers of premium goods to equate the brand with a quality, high-end commodity and refrain from purchasing it. It is in Lamborghini’s benefit, of course, to guarantee that nobody else comes up with a cheap product of the same name and logo.
Rights and the enforcement of laws
Registration allows the owner the right to exclusively sell, license, and make money out of the name. The most valuable right of a registered trademark owner is the right to sue the violators. We can be confident about the claims for violation. If a trademark is accepted, sufficient legal proof can be needed in order to publicly protect the trademark.
Right to use the logo that is licensed
For products and services mentioned in the registry, registration requires the use of the registered symbol next to the trademark.
Any business wishing to succeed and expand should invest in IPR. If the enterprise is well organized and run, it allows the corporation to succeed in so many respects. Trademarks are the most powerful since the clients are directly related to them once. The influence of a trademark will help businesses build loyalty and a reputation on a personal level with consumers.
How to register your Trademark in India?
1. Select a trademark agent or solicitor to represent you and approve it.
2. The trademark attorney is carrying out a search.
3. The trademark attorney will draft the trademark proposal, based on the outcome of the search.
4. You will have to change yours in the event that someone else owns the same or identical trademark.
5. The trademark solicitor will file with the Trademark Office your trademark application and give you the receipt.
6. The trademark lawyer will give you the Initial Representation Sheet of your trademark within a few days when it has been registered with the Trademark Office.
Form 48
An attorney is authorized to file a trademark application with the trademark registrar on your behalf. The affidavit of a trademark user should be submitted in the event that a claim for a previous trademark has been made in the application.
How Taxinn helps you with ™ registration?
1. Trademark search: to decide if a trademark is already present, to define a class of trademark.
2. Drafting Request Letter: So we can file it on your behalf (power of attorney)
3. Affidavit: In your signature, prepare a representation.
4. Final request: To file forms with the registrar.
5. Daily paper updates.
Documents required
Partnership / LLP Company
The entrepreneur will have to apply the following in the case of a partnership company or LLP:
Logo copy (Optional)
Form-48, signed.
Registration Card for Udyog Aadhar.
Certificate of Incorporation or Association Deed.
Signatory’s Identity Proof.
Address Proof of Signatory.
Advantages of Trademark Registration
Special privileges
The owner of a registered trademark shall retain the exclusive right to the trademark. For all the goods falling under the class (es) applied, the owner may use the same. In addition, the proprietor is entitled to enjoy the exclusive possession of the Trademark and is entitled to prohibit any such unlawful use of the Trademark under the same class in which it is licensed. It includes the right to pursue an illegal user with a registered trademark.
Usage of the ® symbol
You can use the ® icon on the branding until the trademark is registered, meaning that it is a registered trademark and no one can use the same trademark. It is limited to all sorts of uses as well as privileges. When the trademark is used by someone else, you can even sue the party if the trademark is licensed.
Legal protection
Trademarks are classified as intellectual property following the filing of a trademark and are thus protected from infringement. Registration of a trademark often confers an exclusive right to use the mark in relation to the ‘Class’ of products or services which it covers. Once you have filed a patent claim, you can use the ‘TM’ symbol on your products. Only after you have secured registration of your trademark will the symbol ‘R’ be put into effect. In addition, you can only use the ® symbol on the products and/or services specified in the certificate of registration. In the case of unauthorized use of a registered trademark, you may claim liability for misuse in the event of unauthorized use of a registered.
Provide the owner with exclusive rights
The owner of a registered trademark shall have the sole right to use the same mark on each type of object protected by the class submitted for the trademark application. The proprietor shall hold the exclusive control of a Trademark and shall prohibit anyone from using the Trademark in the same class in which it is registered.
Builds the brand’s reputation
A Trademark certifies the nature of products and accentuates the brand’s goodwill. It also helps to win the clients’ confidence and improve their reliability on a specific brand.
Creates distinctive identification for goods
Overshadowing others when dealing with a dynamic line of business becomes incredibly important. Through a distinctive logo that conveys the vision and other qualities of his organization, one can easily leave a clear impression of his company. The greatest gain of Trademark Registration is that knowing your name makes it easy for potential buyers. Trademarks separate your products from your competition and act as an important promotional tool.
Differentiation of products
Trademark registrations are independent of those of the goods or services they represent. Trademarks allow your goods to be distinguished from the products of your rivals. Also, as registration of a trademark will be valid for the whole class of goods or services so represented, it will help to distinguish your items clearly. In order to build a consumer base for your goods, consumers individually recognize products bearing various trademarks.
Brand recognition
Clients identify the performance, efficiency, characteristics, and so on of a product with the business manufacturing those goods. Generally, they distinguish the item by the tag, which will be a registered trademark. Registration of a trademark enables name awareness for your products and services. It also builds brand-related goodwill. Your name is also remembered and, over time, holds a consumer appeal. Recognition of labels welcomes new clients while keeping existing consumers.
Trademark: TM, R and C Symbol
TM, R, and C symbols are frequently used to indicate certain aspects of the registration of intellectual property with a trademark or copyright. The common usages of these symbols are the following:
TM-Symbol ©
The TM symbol is used when a trademark application is lodged with a trademark registry. Accordingly, the TM symbol is used to indicate that there is a trade mark application with regard to the mark and serves as a warning to infringers and counter-fitters.
Symbol of SM
The SM or service mark is a symbol used in the case of trademark applications filed in Class 35-45. Some applicants prefer to use the TM symbol for Class 1-34 trademark applications and the SM symbol for Class 35-45 trademark applications. It is both acceptable to use the TM symbol for all classes or to use the SM mark for a trademark application under Class 35-45.
®-The R symbol
Once a trademark has been registered, the applicant may begin to use the ® symbol next to that trademark. The R symbol means that the trademark is registered and is protected from infringement under the laws relating to the trademark. Use of the ® symbol after filing a trademark application or without receiving registration of a trademark.
©- C Symbol symbol
The © mark stands for copyright and is a copyright notice for any work that may be copyrighted, such as artwork, photography, videography, novels, literary works, etc. Along with the name of the copyright holder and the year of the first printing, the C symbol is used. Proper use of the © mark is a requirement in several countries to claim copyright rights. However, to claim copyright rights, the Berne Convention includes the use of the © symbol, and India is a member of the Berne Convention. Therefore, given that using the © sign is not a legal necessity, it places infringes on alert.
Online Trademark Registration Process
Allotment for Trademark Application:
If an application for registration of a trademark has been filed with the trademark registrar, an allotment number of the trademark application shall be given within one or two working days. Via the online trademark search service, the submission can then be tracked online. The owner of the trademark will affix the TM symbol next to the logo after collecting the allotment number.
Vienna codification:
If the application is sent to the Indian Trademarks Register, the validity of the logo applied for is checked at various points of inspection.
In order to verify at what point their submission has entered, the patent status is updated online for applicants.
If the submitted mark consists of some figurative elements as an emblem, the trademark application will display the status of ‘Send to Vienna Codification’
Trademark examination
The application for approval of a trademark shall be reviewed by the Trade Marks Office within approximately two to four (2-4) months from the date of filing and complaints shall be submitted, if any. … Relative Uses (similarity with earlier trademark already existing on the Trade Marks Register)
Trademark objections:
They are one of the initial stages of the procedure of approval of a trademark where, for whatever reasons, the trademark examiner objects to the submission. Your statement is not a clear rejection, but the registrar requires valid reasons or clarification for the mark and its registration.
Journal Publication:
When the application for registration of a trademark has been approved by the registrar, the proposed logo is published in the journal of the trademark. The journal of the trademark shall be issued weekly and shall include all the trademarks approved by the registrar. After it is released, if they feel that their company would be harmed by the registration, the public has the right to respond to a specific registration. If no appeals are lodged within 90 days of the date of such release, the trade mark will usually be registered within 12 weeks.
If a third party responds to the application for registration of a trademark, the trademark hearing officer may be notified for a hearing. Both the applicant and the opposition party have the right to testify at the hearing and to provide justification for registration or rejection of the application for registration of a trademark. The hearing officer will decide, on the grounds of the proceedings and the facts submitted, whether the appeal should be approved or rejected. By escalating it to the Intellectual Property Appeals Court, the hearing officer’s opinion can still be questioned.
Trademark registration:
A trademark (also a printed trademark or trademark [1]) is a form of intellectual property consisting of a distinctive sign, design or term that from those of others distinguishes goods or services of a specific source, [2][3] while trademarks used to distinguish services are commonly referred to as service marks.[4][5] The trademark owner can be a person, a business association, or any legal agency. On a box, a sticker, a coupon, or on the product itself, a trademark can be found. Trademarks are also displayed in business buildings for the purposes of branding. As a form of intellectual property, it is lawfully recognized.