Trademarks are special unique signs that are used to identify goods or services from a certain company. They can be designs, pictures, signs or even expressions. It is important because it differentiates your products from the competitions. It can be associated with your brand or product. Trademarks are classified as intellectual property and therefore is protected from infringement. Trademarks and its rights are protected by the Trademark Act, 1999.
To get the protection of trademark rights one has to register the trademark. It is important to register your trademark because it prevents others from copying your mark and misrepresenting other products with your mark. Trademarks help the customers to recognise the brand and the brand value in one look such as the logo of a tick sign for Nike or a jumping wildcat for Puma etc.
Unlike patents, trademark does not have a definite limitation period. Where a patent expires in 20 years a trademark registration expires after 10 years of its registration, but unlike patents, a trademark can be renewed again for another 10 years. This process can be indefinitely done, meaning as long as you keep renewing the trademark it will not expire and will continue to be under the protection of the Act.
What Is a Trademark?
Trademarks not only help distinguish products within the legal and business systems, but—just as significantly—with consumers. They are used to identify and protect words and design elements that identify the source, owner, or developer of a product or service. They can be corporate logos, slogans, or the brand name of a product. Similar to a trademark, a service mark identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a physical product, although the term trademark is often used to refer to both trademarks and service marks.
Using a trademark is intended to prevent others from using a company’s or an individual’s products or services without their permission. Trademark laws also prohibit any marks that have a likelihood of confusion with an existing one. This means that a business cannot use a symbol or brand name if it looks or sounds similar, or has a similar meaning to one that’s already on the books—especially if the products or services are related. For instance, a soft drink company can’t legally use a symbol that looks like that of Coca-Cola and it can’t use a name that sounds like Coke.
Trademarking a Brand Name
By trademarking your company’s name, you are protecting the brand, its reputation, and your ideas, all of which you undoubtedly invested a great deal of blood, sweat, and tear working on. And while the procedure for trademark registration itself will take time in all areas considered, nothing would be worse than not protecting your brand and potentially be faced with an infringement lawsuit from a larger company.
The process of brand trademark registration in India is now possible and convenient through the trademark registration portal (IP India Portal) and you can trademark any one of the below things or even a combination of the following:
– Letter
– Word
– Number
– Phrase
– Graphics
– Logo
– Sound Mark
– Smell or a mix of colors
Who Can Apply For a Trademark?
The trademark owner can apply for trademark registration. In the Trademark Registration form, the person whose name is mentioned as the applicant will be declared as the owner of the trademark once the trademark is successfully registered. Any individual, a company and an LLP can be an applicant and may file the application for the registration of the particular trademark.
Trademark Registry
The trademark registry was established in 1940 then came the Trademark Act which was passed in 1999. Currently, the trademark registry works as the operation or functional body of the Act. As a functioning body, the trademark registry implements all the rules and regulation of the trademark law in India.
The Head Office of the trademark registry is in Mumbai, and it has branch offices in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Kolkata. A trademark is registered under the Trademark Act, 1999 and then entered into the Trademark Registry. In this process, the registry will check whether the registering mark meets all the conditions of the Act before registering it.
Documents Required for Trade Mark Registration
- A copy of the trademark or of the logo. In case of trade mark for word, logo is not required.
- Applicant’s details like name, address and nationality.
- In case of company or LLP, the incorporation certificate.
- Udyog Aadhar registration, in case the company is eligible for lower filing fee.
- Description of goods or services represented by the mark.
- Trademark class under the application must be filed.
- Power of attorney in Form 48 Format should be signed by the applicant
How to Register a Trademark?
Step 1: Trademark Search
The first step is trade mark search. The search should be done in both for various combination of similar marks on the intellectual property website. In case similar marks are found, check the description to see if the mark represents the same set of goods or services proposed by you.
Step 2: Application Preparartion
In the second step, an application is prepared by the Trade Mark Attorney. Form 48 and TM-1 will be prepare for approval and signature of the trade mark applicant.
Step 3: Application Filing
In the third step, the trade mark filing is completed with the Trade Mark Registry. The Government fee for registering a trade mark for an individual, startup, small enterprise is Rs.4500. For all other types of applicant, the Government fee is Rs.9000. there is a separate fee setup for the attorney professional which is Rs.3500 for each application.
Step 4: Government Processing
Once a trade mark application is filed and the Government is processing the application, the status of the trade mark application must be checked periodically. In case of objection, an objection reply must be submitted by the applicant within 30 days. Similarly, in case of opposition, the applicant must respond in a time-bound manner to allay the concerns of the counter-party
Validity of Registered Trade Mark
Once a trade mark application is filed with the Trade Mark office, the applicant can begin using the TM symbol. If the trademark is registered, the applicant can use the R symbol. All registered trade marks are valid for a period of 10 years from the date of application. At the end of its validity, a trade mark can be renewed easily by paying the Government fee for registration.
FAQs
What Is an Intangible Asset?
An intangible asset is an asset, such as a trademark or copyright, with no physical presence. That contrasts with tangible assets, such as a building, a piece of machinery, or a fleet of trucks. For accounting and tax purposes, intangible assets can be amortized, while tangible ones are depreciated.
What Are Intellectual Property Rights?
As the World Trade Organization (WTO) defines the term, “Intellectual property rights are the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds,” adding that, “They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time.”