Introduction
A trademark is a distinctive identification that distinguishes our business, goods, or service from the competition. Our company's assets and intellectual property are registered trademarks. It safeguards the financial commitment made to winning our consumers' loyalty and trust.
What is a trademark?
A trademark is "a phrase, word, design or symbol that recognizes our goods and services" and separates our business from others, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A service mark is used for services, whereas a trademark is used for commodities. A trademark grants us the sole right to employ our mark, as well as the ability to stop rivals from using a mark that is identical to or remarkably identical to ours.
A type of intellectual property right is a trademark. Individuals can keep their ownership of their original works of art and creative work because of intellectual property laws. The intellectual property is restricted by a variety of fees for filing and fees for the violation because it was made possible by human work.
A trademark is a promotional tool that aids a company raise more money. Although a brand is always a trademark, a trademark is not necessarily a brand. Often, the difference between a trademark and a brand is unclear. The trademark, which has a larger meaning than a brand name and can be more than just a symbol or logo, serves as a distinctive sign or signal in a company organization. People are more persuaded by a mark that stands out and conveys the product's high quality. A trademark might be a slogan, a logo, or a pictorial mark.
What can be said as a trademark?
Numerous of the things one chooses to set our company apart from competing ones can be trademarked. One may own the following trademarks:
company name
a brand name
label or logo
a mark or pattern
sound
an item packaging
Types of Trademark
Every type of trademark has its distinctive feature for a particular company through which their services also differ:
Service mark- It plays a key role in promoting and selling products as it distinguishes the services provided by one provider from another other.
Collective mark- Members, a collective group, participants of a collaborative association, or members of another group or organization use a collective mark to denote the source of goods or services. A collective mark denotes a mark that is applied to a collection of companies with identical qualities as well as to goods and services. To separate the various goods or services, the company or group uses this mark to represent more than one individual who is functioning in a group organization or legal entity.
Certification mark- A certifying mark verifies or confirms a thing by assuring that an action has been taken or a judicial requirement has been met. The Trademark Act of 1999 defines a certification mark as a mark that certifies specific characteristics of the goods or services that it is utilized.
Product mark- A mark used on a product or good instead of any service.
Shape mark- Shape Marking is solely used to safeguard a product's shape so that consumers can relate to it and choose to purchase it from a particular producer. Once a good is acknowledged to have a distinctive shape, its shape can be registered.
Sound mark- A sound mark is a noise that can be connected to a good or service coming from a specific vendor. People must be able to quickly and effortlessly recognize the service, or product, or show that the sound stands for it to be registered as a sound mark. Sound logos, sometimes known as audio mnemonics, are usually frequently heard at the start or finish of commercials.
Procedure for Filing of Trademark
1. Trademark Search
Most business owners are unaware of the significance of a TM search. A distinctive brand idea in hand is not a sufficient excuse to forego a search. A search enables us to determine whether identical trademarks are in use, it offers us a realistic assessment as to where our trademark stands, and occasionally it alerts us to the risk of a trademark infringement lawsuit.
2. Application for a trademark
Once we are certain that the brand name or logo that we have selected is not already registered with the Trademark Registry of India, we may decide to file it. The basic stage is to submit a trademark application to the Indian Trademark Registry. Most filing is done online these days. An official receipt is given to the applicant after he has filed for the application of trademark in front of the appropriate authority.
3. Inspection
The examiner goes through the trademark application once it has been submitted in front of him for any errors and this is called inspection. The test could take between 12 and 18 months. The examiner may approve the trademark unconditionally, with conditions, or with objections. The trademark is filed in the Trademark Journal if it is approved without conditions. If not approved without restrictions, the examination would state the requirements that must be met or the concerns that must be addressed, and one month would've been granted to do so.
The trademark is filed in the Trademark Journal if the reply is acknowledged. One may ask for a review if the reply is rejected. If the examiner decides at the hearing that the trademark deserves to be registered, publishing in the Trademark Journal follows.
4. Publication
The publication phase is contained in the trademark filing procedure so that whoever objects to the trademark's registration does have the chance to do so. If there are no objections three to four months after the advertisement, the trademark is registered. If there is an objection, the Registrar conducts a chance to be heard and renders a ruling.
5. Obtaining a Registration Certificate
A registration certificate with the stamp of the Trademark Office is given once the request for trademark registration has been approved and has been published in the Trademark Journal.
6. Renewal of the trademark
A mark is registered for 10 years. As a result, we can register our brand name to enjoy permanent protection. After 10 years a trademark can be renewed on payment of renewal fees.
Conclusion
Since trademarks are crucial components of intellectual property, it is now vital to safeguard them since every provider of a good or service would like their mark to stand out from the competition, be enticing, and be simple to recognize from others.
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