How Trademark Registration can secure your Brand?

It isn’t easy to build and sustain a business in this competitive world. The only way to create a unique brand identity and capture the customer’s attention is by developing an exceptional brand logo. Such design or logo in legal terms is called Trademark. It provides a distinctive identity to a brand. Trademark is like an intellectual property that underpins a Company and helps it to gain an eminent spot in the market. While other Companies can misuse a brand’s logo to threaten its business, it is essential to register a Trademark. This document will guide you about how Trademark Registration Online can secure your business.

Significance of Trademark Registration in India

Section 2 of Trade Marks Act, 1999 defines a Trademark as a mark, tagline or logo that distinguishes the Goods & Services of one Company from another. It is a permit which accentuates a brand in the cut-throat competitive industry. Moreover, it enables customers to identify your Company’s products.

Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, Ministry of Commerce and Industry along with Government of India regulates Trademark Registration. An applicant can opt from 45 classes of various products & services to register a Trademark. Thus, it is important to mention the class of a product or service during Registration.

The significance of registering a Trademark is beyond assessment in the corporate realm. It protects a business against infringement cases or fraudulent invasion. Trademark can be transferred, sold or franchised being an intangible asset or an intellectual property.

Benefits of registering a Trademark

Here are the ways in which a registered Trademark protects the brand:

• Owner gets the exclusive right: An owner of a registered Trademark relish an exclusive right to use the same Mark for every category of goods that falls under the class submitted in Trademark Application. The proprietor also avails the benefit of sole authority and prevents others from using the Trademark under the same class in which it has been registered.
• Strengthens the brand: When a Company registers its Trademark, it boosts the goodwill of the brand. Therefore, it drives more prospective customers and increases their dependability on a particular brand.               
• Legal protection for 10 years: Once registered, a Trademark is valid for a period of ten years from the date of its issuance which secures a brand for the stipulated time frame.  The owner can choose to renew the Trademark when it is about to expire, which can be done at a minimal cost.
• Safety against infringement: A proprietor of Registered Trademark can heave a sigh of relief since nobody can utilize a registered brand logo. In case anyone misuses a Registered Trademark without the consent of its owner; then the proprietor can take legal actions against him/her under Trade Marks Act, 1999.

Online procedure for Trademark Registration

Follow the simple steps given below to register a Trademark for your brand:

• Search for a peculiar brand logo: The first step is to search for a unique logo or name for the business. Ensure that your chosen logo or name has not been previously used by any other Company or registered earlier. Also, the Company’s logo must represent the niche of a business and must not mislead the customers about the product or the service.
• Draft the Application: The next step is to draft a Trademark Application which costs around INR 3500. Affix all the necessary documents with your Application such as Certificate of Incorporation, photo of the logo (9X5cm in size), Partnership Deed, Signed Form TM-48, Address proof, Aadhaar card, ID proof of the Directors, etc.
• File the Trademark Application: After drafting the Application, file it online. You will get an Acknowledgement receipt instantly soon after submitting the Application.
• Verification of the document and the Application: The Registration Authority will assess and check if the provided information is valid & correct. If any discrepancy occurs, the Authority may reject the Application.
• Publication of approved Trademark: Once satisfied, the Authority will approve the Application and publish the Trademark in the Trademark Journals. If no third-party raises any objection against the Trademark within 3 months of its publication, then the brand logo shall be accepted universally. After the series of trials & tribulations, the Registrar will accept the Application and issues you the Certificate.

Conclusion

Trademark Registration is important for any budding entrepreneur who is struggling to build his identity in the market. If you also want to register a logo for your brand, take the assistance of Swarit Advisors.

Source: https://medium.com/@sonu_mallik/how-trademark-registration-can-secure-your-brand-10f2aacbce41