Trademark Registration: Establishing Your Distinct Brand Identity
Strengthen brand recognition, reputation and consumer trust through robust trademark registration. Protect your brand from copying and foster customer loyalty by securing your unique identity.
* Excluding Govt. Fees & Stamp Paper Charges
Meaning
A trademark is a mark, symbol, word, recognizable sign, phrase, design, or a combination thereof which create a visual identity of a business and that distinguishes and identifies the goods or services of one company from those of others. Trademark in India is a distinct identity that helps consumers identify and differentiate products or services in the society. A strong trademark helps build brand recognition, reputation and consumer trust.
Once a trademark is registered, it helps the customer to recognise the product or service and it also prevent competitors from being copying it. This protection enables the trademark owner to prevent others from using a similar or confusingly similar mark that may lead to consumer confusion or dilution of their brand.
Trademark symbol (TM) is used when application for trademark is filed and Trademark symbol (R) is used when trademark applied application is registered.
What Can Be Trademarked
Trademark is a brand, slogan or a logo. A brand name can be a word or a combination of words. A slogan is a short phrase and a logo is an attractive picture or a symbol. To register the trademark, one need to file the trademark registration online application.
While registering trademark certain points need to be taken care such as
- Arbitrary words – The word must have a relation with the product.
- Suggestive marks – The marks should specify the attribute of the product.
- Avoid generic words – Trademark does not contain words such as ‘color name’, ‘nationality’, ‘Plethora’ of others.
- Avoid purely descriptive words – Words which describes the nature or quality or services of the goods.
Benefits
- Exclusive: Trademark registration provide exclusivity to use the mark in connection with its product and/ or services and it also provide legal protection from being mis-used.
- Goodwill: it helps in brand recognition and gain trust among the public.
- Promotional Tool: It is a vital tool in promotion of a brand as sooner or later public start recognising your product or services.
- Assets Creation: Once trademark is registered, it become intangible asset of the organisation or person and can be saleable in market.
- Legal Protection: it helps to protect the brand name. Registered trademark user is entitled to stop other person from mis-using it and registered trademark user may file suit also in the court of law.
Requirements and Procedure for Trademark Registration
- Trademark Search
- Logo Appropriateness: Ensure the logo matches the product.
- Clarity: The logo should be clear and not confusing.
- Trademark Infringement: Avoid conflicts with existing trademarks.
- Objections: Check for potential objections from the registry.
- Word Search
- Device Mark Search
- File Trademark Application
- Ordinary Trademark Application: For a single class of goods or services.
- Multiclass Trademark Application: For multiple classes of goods or services.
- Convention/Priority Trademark Application: Based on priority claims.
- Filing Form TM
- Name
- Type of Applicant
- Address of Applicant
- The class(es) of the Trademark
- Issue of Examination Report
- Trademark Publication Process
- Filing: Submit an application for single or multiple classes.
- Examination: The application is reviewed under the Trademark Act.
- Publication: Once accepted, the application is published in the Trademark Journal.
- Opposition: Opposition to registration can be filed within 4 months of publication.
- Registration and Renewal: If no opposition is filed, the trademark is registered for 10 years and can be renewed every ten years.
- Trademark Opposition
- Trademark Registration ®
- Trademark Renewal
- Trademark Restoration
- Trademark Removal
- Trademark Rectification
- Lack of sufficient cause for registration.
- Non-payment of renewal fees.
- Non-use for over five years.
- Trademark Protection
- Trademark Infringement
- Trademark Classification
What is included in this
Initial Documents Required
FAQs
Trademark registration provide protection to the brand identity and provide exclusive right to use the mark in relation with good or services.
No. Registration of a trademark is not compulsory. However, the registration is the prima facie evidence of the proprietorship of the trademark under registration. However, it is to be noted that no suit can be instituted for the infringement of unregistered trademarks. For unregistered marks, action can be brought against any person for passing off goods or services as the goods of another person or as services provided by another person.
Yes, the filed mark is allowed to be amended as per the provision of Section 22 of the Trademarks Act, which allows the amendment of the mark provided it does not amount to a substantial change in the character of the mark as such. Any superficial or insignificant character or feature of the said mark is allowed to be amended if a request is filed in the prescribed format along with 16 copies of the amended label mark.
Yes, Trademark is registered for 10 years and thereafter, the same can be renewed before expiry of the period for a further period of 10 years.
After filing an application with the trademark authority, person or organisation is entitled to use the word TM.
A mark is considered to be a registered trademark when the same is published by the trademark authority in its official journal and certificate is issued.
There is no fixed time period for registration of trademark. Time period for registration of trademark vary from case to case and depend upon the work load at trademark authority part.
When the trademark application is filed, the user may use the symbol TM and when the trademark application filed is registered before the trademark authority, the user may use the symbol R.
| Physical | Online |
In case of Individual, Small Enterprise , Start-up Entity | Rs. 5,000/- | Rs. 4,500/- |
In all other cases (Note: Fee is for each class and for each mark ) | Rs. 10,000/- | Rs. 9,000/- |
