Trademark Registration

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Trademark Registration

A trademark is a visual symbol that can be a word, name, numbers, label, color combination, etc used by business to distinguish it services or products from other same goods or services which are made in different business. Trademarks in India are listed by the Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. Trademarks are registered under the Trademark Act, 1999 and give the trademark owner the power to sue for losses when infringements of trademarks happen. Registered trademarks are intellectual property for business, they are used to safeguard the company’s investment in the brand or symbol. Trademarks are necessary to get registrable if it is unique for the products and services you give.

Proposed trademarks that are the same or identical to an existing registered trademark cannot be registered. Moreover, trademarks are not registrable if it is offensive, general, unreliable, not unique, includes specifically protected emblems, etc.

 

Once a trademark registration process is done, the ® symbol can be applied and the registration will become valid for 10 years. Registered trademarks nearing expiry can regularly renew the registration process by filing a trademark renewal application for a time of another 10 years.

Trademark Registrations is done through TS Associates in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Rourkela, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Patna, Thiruananthpuram, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai & all other Indian cities. Offering a quality of trademark services like trademark filing, trademark search, trademark renewal, and patent registration, etc.

What can be registered as a trademark?

Name

A name including personal or surname of the applicant or predecessor in business or the signature of the person e.g, the name Dhirubai Ambani can be trademarked.

Word

A word which is not being directly descriptive of the character or quality of the goods / service. For example Google is a word which has been trademarked.

Numbers

Alphanumeric or Letters or numerals or any combination thereof. For example 555 brand.

Images

Image, symbol, monograms, 3-dimensional shapes, letters etc. For example the tick in Nike logo.

Sound

Sound marks in audio format. For ex the sound in the ad jingle

Except these, the other things which can be trademarked are an invented word or any arbitrary dictionary word or words, letters or numerals, devices which may include fancy devices or symbols, monograms, a combination of colors or a single color in combination with a word or device, the shape of goods or their packaging, 3- dimensional sign, slogans and phrase, logo, graphic content, etc.

Who can all apply for a Trademark?

In context to the trademark rules and regulations in India, things like sound, logo, words, phrases, colors, images, symbols, initials or a mixture of all these can be registered.

A trademark application can be made by:

  •  Private firms
  •  Individuals
  • Companies- Limited Liability Partnership, OPC, Private limited, Public, Partnership, etc.
  • NGO’s

Note: In the case of NGOs and LLP companies the trademark has to be applied for registration in the name of the concerned business or a company.

Any person, pretending to be the proprietor of a trademark used or intended to be applied by him, may apply in writing in a prescribed manner for registration. The application must include the trademark, the goods or services, name and address of candidate with power of attorney, the time of use of the mark. The application must be in English or Hindi. It must be registered at the appropriate office.

The applications can be submitted individually at the Front Office Counter of the particular office or can be sent by post.

Advantages of Trademark Registration

Excellent Business Opportunity
A product or service being sold under a registered trademark assists in developing up trust, safety, quality, and goodwill in the minds of customers. It gives you a unique identity when linked to other sellers.
Legal Protection
A registered trademark owner has the legal right in case of infringement i.e you have a doubt that your trademark is copied by someone else, you sue them for copying your logo, brand, name or slogan.
Get Unique Identity
Customers will recognize a singular product or service only with the brand name. Registering a trademark guarantees that competitors will not apply it and so it remains a company’s unique asset.
Global Filling of Trademark
A trademark which is registered and filed in India is permitted to be filed in other countries outside India as well. Moreover, foreigners can also get a trademark registered and filed in India.
Creation of intangible asset
The trademark can be a valuable asset in case your brand builds a name and succeeds. Registering a trademark makes it an intangible asset that can be traded, franchised, distributed, or commercially contracted. This brings benefits to the company or the individual proprietor. A trademark is an intellectual property for the organization.
Infringement protection
Filing a trademark assures the trademarked object is not used unethically by any other company or Individual. But, if the trademark is used by a 3rd-party without the permission of the owner of the trademark, the owner can ask legal protection upon the act and even sue the person or the company who made a false usage of the trademark.
Exclusive rights
The proprietor of a registered trademark will be able to have exclusive rights over the trademark. The same trademark can be applied by the owner for all the products that fall under the same classes. Having the exclusive rights on the product or services also permits the owner to stop any kind of illegal use of the trademarked thing.
Applying the registered symbol
The company can use the registered symbol (®) once the trademark is filed. The logo is evidence of the fact that the trademark is already registered and cannot be applied by another individual or another company. In the case of illegal usage, the person who holds the trademark can decide to sue the other person.
Differentiating products
Trademarking assists the consumers to find out about the products quickly. They can differentiate among the various kinds of products as the products tend to create an identity for themselves.
Promotes Goods and Services
Registering a trademark constitutes the face of the company or the goods and services. This serves to differentiate and promote brand creation. Most of the companies get their identity by trademark so it pays a crucial role in promoting and enhances the brand value.
Protect the Commercial Goodwill
A trademark’s registered owner has the power to build, secure and protect the goodwill of his/her goods or services. The owner can stop other traders from using his trademark illegally. One can also sue the infringer for using the brand name and demand damages for any infringement
Advertising sales
The customers of a company attach the name of the brand to the feature of the product or service that they give. This form of the product is spread in the market and so, it helps to increase sales by bringing more and more customers towards the product.

Steps in Trademark Application

Step 1 : Trademark search (1 day)

TS Associates check trademark availibity or check brand name availability on the behalf of their customers to make sure that their desired name or design has not already been taken or isn’t too similar to an already existing trademark. You can also check existing trademarks at tsassociates.co.in/trademark-search. Because being exclusive do matters. This check well ensures that are no issues & there are minimal chances of an objection being raised in the future.

Step 2 : Create trademark application (1 day)

Once we ensure that your chosen name or design is available & exclusive, we send you an authorisation letter which has to be duly signed by you and returned to us. These letters give our lawyers authority to file a trademark application on your behalf.

Step 3 : Trademark application submission (1 day)

Once we receive the authorisation letter & provided that no information is incorrect or partial, our lawyers will file the trademark on your behalf, and you can immediately start using the ™ symbol. We will provide you with the TM application number.
We file the trademark different at the central trademark department office or via online. A trademark can be filed online only by a registered lawyer or agent.

Step 4: Trademark registration (1.5 years)

Once a trademark application is complete, your application will be verified by the trademarks office. The government can also raise an objection on if your name similar to some other trademark in the same class, or the name is deemed obscene, hurts religious sentiments.

In case no objection is raised, the trademark registrar will publish an advertisement in the trademarks journal. If no opposition is filed by any party within a period of 4 months, the trademark should be registered within the next 6 months. During this period, we constantly provide you with updates regarding the status of your application. You will need to pay the additional fee in case of such objections.

Step 5: Hearing before Registrar

If the objection has been filed on your trademark and the opposition doesn’t agree with your response, then hearing is held before the registrar. We appoint lawyers (charges extra) to take up your case in front of the registrar.

Documents needed for Trademark Registration

Before preparation of the documents its important to get an authorization letter that is appropriately signed by you enables us to file for trademark registration on behalf of you. After getting the authorization letter, we begin preparing the documents required to apply online. Soon, you receive the approval of the application, and you will gain the right to use the ™ symbol. While filing for the trademark registration, the documents you require to provide are as follows:
  • Proof of Applicant
  • PAN Card and Address Proof of Applicant
  • Certificate of registration (other than an Individual applicant)
  • Brand Name & Logo
  • User Affidavit
  • Proof of TM Use
  • MSME / Start-up Recognition
  • Signed Form TM – 48

Notes

  • Identity and business proofs: The trademark owner or the person who is approved by the trademark owner requires to present their identity proof. It can be your Aadhar Card, Driving License, Passport, Ration card or Voter’s ID.
  • Using Logo with Tagline: If a trademark application is prepared for a tagline with only words there is no requirement for a logo. In cases where a logo is applied, then it must be submitted in black and white format. The number of words in the logo must exactly be the same as specified in the application for a trademark.
  • Brand Name & Logo: The logo must have the brand name applied for trademark registration.
  • User Affidavit: If a particular user data is to be claimed, the user affidavit is expected to be submitted.
  • Proof of TM use: To demand specific user date, documentary proof like invoices, registration certificates, etc with the brand name must be given.
  • MSME or Start-up Recognition: A partnership firm, body corporates can give a certificate of registration under MSME or Start-up India scheme to get a 50% rebate on the Government fee
  • Signed Form TM – 48: TM-48 is a lawful document that enables the attorney to file the trademark on your behalf with the trademark registry. The document will be made by LW professionals for the signature.

Trademark Objected

If a Trademark is registered and the status is shown as “Objected” this indicates that the authority has received 1or more objections on the trademark, this can be because of duplication of existing registered trademark or else the trademark will be offensive even there are various other reasons for trademark objection. The objection is raised under section 9 and section 11. In Section 9 the objections are made if the authority determines the trademark to be descriptive of goods. To overcome such objection you require to give proper evidence and prove distinctive of your Trademark.

In Section 11 the objections are made by the authority when they see the same trademark which means such a trademark already exists for similar goods, services or products. When the objection is done, the candidate requires to make sure that he/she gives appropriate documents within the provided time, this will help you to overcome the objection.

Trademark Renewal

Just applying for trademark registration won’t work for the long-term. The trademark remains valid just for 10 years after that one needs to file for Trademark Renewal.

Trademark renewal must be filed before the expiry of the trademark. The renewal application form must be made and filed before the deadline to have the seamless protection of the trademark without any chances of litigation.

  • Protection from Frivolous Litigation: It is likely to have seamless trademark protection without any risks of litigation. Renewal of trademarks makes difficult for someone to maintain rights over it other than the trademark owner.

  • Increase of Ownership Rights: One can get security from infringement of rights over the brand name. The exclusive rights over the trademark are continued for 10 years after each renewal. So it provides permanent protection of your brand and goodwill generated by the brand.

  • Brand Name Security: Renewal of trademark guarantees constant and unhindered protection of the brand name. Failure of renewal points to a lapse of legal protection in Brand name.

  • Monetary Returns: A trademark owner has the particular rights to allot or license the trademark to someone else in return for some monetary benefit. Thus, one can earn a profit from a registered trademark as well.

Renewal Process and Forms

  • The application of renewal is done in form TM-12

  • The application can be executed by either the registered owner of the trademark or an agent approved by him.

  • You must take the help of a professional to register for the renewal of a trademark application to guarantee that the mark is well protected. This is because you may need to increase the scope of protection. After all, if your brand has lasted 10 years, it’s likely that it will have outgrown the classes you had 1st registered it under.

  • Filing a trademark renewal application increases protection by another 10 years. The trademark registrations are applicable for another 10 years and renewed again before expiry.

Validity of a registered Trademark

Once a trademark application is registered in the TradeMark office or online, the candidate can begin applying the TM symbol on products or the services, and if the trademark is registered then the candidate specifies the ® symbol over his trademark. All registered trademarks are valid for 10 years from the date of registration.

At the end of the validity of a trademark, a trademark can be renewed simply by giving the Government fee for registration within 6 months by Form TM-12 Renewal of Registration from the date of expiry of the trademark.

An expired trademark can be renewed through Form TM-13 (Restoration & Renewal) after 6 months and within 1year from the expiration of the last registration of the trademark.