If you own something in the present highly competitive business environment, you must have a legal license to own it. Just like marriage registration, Intellectual Property (IP), which refers to the intangible creations of the human intellect, must also be registered in the form of a trademark, patent, copyright, industrial design, or geographical indication for ensuring that illegal or unlawful people don’t have any power to copy or represent your valuable assets. Here, we will discuss everything you need to know about Trademark Registration In India, along with the benefits of owning a trademark.
UNDERSTANDING THE TERM TRADEMARK AND ITS REGISTRATION
What is popularly and widely known as “Brand Name” is what we refer to as a “Trademark” in the legal terms. A trademark refers to any symbol, word, logo, shape, number, letter, phrase, or combination of alphanumeric digits, which defines your service or product. A unique logo or brand name holds immense potential for differentiating your offerings from those of others in the industry. For securing legal Trademark Protection, all you have to do is go ahead with the trademark registration of your brand name or logo. Upon receiving the Trademark Application Number (TM Application Number), you can successfully start using the TM symbol to let the people know that you have planned to use a particular name or logo as a trademark for your business or company. With trademark registration, you can assure your clients or customers that your service or product is unique in the market, and they shall associate goodwill with your offering. Your Registered Trademark indeed acts as identification or represents the source of your innovation.
It is essential to make a point of the fact that before registering your trademark, it is first imperative to evaluate the type of trademark that best suits service or product and also conduct a Trademark Search to come across any similar trademark to prevent any confusion in the future. You can get in touch with an experienced Trademark Attorney before filing a trademark application to know about the critical details. Also, keep in mind that a trademark registered in India shall be valid only in India.
TRADEMARK REGISTRATION PROCESS IN INDIA
The very step in the trademark registration process involves checking out if the trademark picked by you already exists or not by conducting a trademark search. If the selected trademark is available, then you require verifying the type of the trademark. If in case the selected trademark is not available, then with some expert guidance, you can decide on a similar mark. Also, if your proposed mark is unique, then the possibility of its rejection shall be quite low. The next step involves choosing the right class under which you will register your mark. For instance – if your product is something related to hair oil, cosmetics, or body lotion, you will have to apply under Class 3. After selecting all these things, comes the stage of filing the trademark application, where you need to fill in the required details to get the registration process initiated. The registrar then conducts an examination process to check the viability of the mark. If the proposed mark is accepted by the registrar and doesn’t face any objections, then you will receive the trademark registration certificate and can use the ® symbol on the corresponding product or service.
ADVANTAGES OF TRADEMARK REGISTRATION IN INDIA
1- EXCLUSIVE TRADEMARK RIGHTS
The owner of a registered trademark holds the exclusive Trademark Rights and can also prevent its unauthorized use by any third party or individual. Furthermore, the owners can also use the same trademark for all the products or services falling under the class/classes applied.
2- BUILDS CUSTOMER LOYALTY AND GOODWILL
The quality of your product or service corresponding to the registered trademark establishes its goodwill and trust in the market among the customers. Moreover, the registered trademark helps in communicating the unique characteristics and vision of your company and its brand.
3- PROTECTION AGAINST TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT
No business competitor or any other individual has the right to use your registered trademark. However, if a person does the same, then you can initiate legal proceedings against such issues of Trademark Infringement.
4- CREATION OF A VALUABLE ASSET
With trademark registration, you create an intangible asset and gain the exclusive rights for selling, franchising, assigning, and commercially contracting your innovation.
5- DIFFERENTIATES YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE
Trademark registration makes it quite convenient for the customers to know and recognize your product or service. What the customers do is attach the product’s quality to the brand name, which, in turn, creates its reputation in the market and attracts new customers.
6- TRADEMARK PROTECTION FOR 10 YEARS AT MINIMAL COST
Once you have a registered trademark, all you require to do is pay the maintenance and renewal cost, which is ten years from the date of the trademark application. Furthermore, now the option of Online Trademark Registration is also available at a comparatively lower maintainability cost. Hence, even at a low cost, you can effectively create a unique image of your company or brand.
7- USE OF ® SYMBOL
After trademark registration, you can effectively use the ® symbol, which implies that it is a registered trademark, and no one can use it without seeking your permission.
8- BASIS FOR GLOBAL TRADEMARK REGISTRATION
If a person is willing to register the trademark in country/countries other than India, then the trademark registration in India can act as a good basis of registration with an established reputation there.