Trademark registration

What Is Trademark

According to Section 2(zb) of the Indian Trademarks Act of 1999, a trademark is a distinguishing mark that sets goods or services apart from those of rival companies in the market. It includes a wide range of components, including designs, emotions, symbols, and any distinguishable characteristic associated with a particular brand. It is remarkable that trademarks are obtainable by a wide range of organizations and individuals due to their openness for ownership by individuals, corporations, or legal entities.

What Justifies Registering a Trademark?

Your rights to use the mark in connection with your products or services are safeguarded by trademark registration. It provides a strong defense against infringement and gives you the ability to take on anyone using your trademark without authorization. After a trademark is successfully registered, it can be renewed indefinitely and is valid for ten years from the date of filing.

Who can Apply for Trademark Registration?

People

co-owners of a business

proprietorship businesses

Partnership companies (up to ten partners)

Partnerships with Limited Liability (LLPs)

Indian businesses

International businesses

Assurances

Communities

Why Is Trademark Registration Important?

Trademark registration in India is critical for protecting your brand and preventing others from using similar signs. It grants you legal rights to your brand, increases its worth, and reassures buyers about the quality of your products or services. It also helps to increase brand recognition and customer trust.

Types of Trademark Registrations in India

Different trademark registrations are made in India for a variety of reasons, all with the goal of giving customers the ability to identify goods and services linked to certain producers or suppliers. Here, we examine the many types of trademark registrations that are accessible:

Product Mark

This kind of trademark is applied to commodities or products to help identify where they came from and protect a business’s reputation. Since they relate to tangible goods, trademark applications under classes 1-34 are usually categorized as product marks.

Service Mark

A service mark, like a product mark, identifies services rather than tangible objects. Service marks are largely used to distinguish specific service providers from one another. Trademark applications in classes 35-45 are frequently viewed as service marks relating to service offers.

Collective Mark

A collective brand communicates distinctive features of products or services associated with a particular group. It enables individuals or organizations to protect and represent goods and services collectively. The trademark holder could be an association, a public institution, or a Section 8 corporation.

Certification Mark

These marks are issued by the owner to signify a product’s origin, composition, quality, or other relevant information. Certification marks create product standards and ensure that the product satisfies specified quality norms. They are widely used in packaged goods, toys, and electronics.

Shape Mark

Shape marks are used to secure a product’s characteristic shape, allowing buyers to easily identify it as coming from a single manufacturer. Registration is based on the shape being considered distinctive.

Pattern Mark

Pattern markings are used to identify objects with distinctive, custom-designed patterns. To be eligible for registration, these patterns must be distinct and recognized.

Sound Mark

Sound marks are distinctive noises related with a supplier’s products or services. Sound logos, sometimes known as audio mnemonics, are frequently heard at the beginning and finish of ads. In India, an example is the IPL theme song.

These many types of trademark registrations give businesses and entities the freedom to protect their brand identification based on their distinctive services and market position.

Documents Required for Trademark Registration in India

Incorporation Certificate

If the trademark is registered under a company or LLP.

Partnership Deed

If the trademark is registered under a partnership firm.

PAN Card

Of the authorised signatory.

Aadhar Card

Of the authorised signatory.

Form-48 Signed

E-sign by using Aadhar authentication from E-sign Desk.

Logo

Please upload the logo in black and white to ensure all colors of the trademark are covered under the registration.

MSME Certificate

Trademark Symbols and Their Uses

In general there are three types of symbols and are used in different cases as explained below:

R SYMBOL

The R sign denotes that the trademark is registered and cannot be copied. This provides the highest level of protection for a registered brand. Simply said, once the R symbol is awarded to a trademark, it cannot be reused anywhere.

™ SYMBOL

This symbol is used while waiting for the Registrar to review your application. This symbol prevents others from using the mark by saying that you are claiming ownership to it. The user may also gain common law trademark rights by employing the TM symbol.

SM SYMBOL

The SM symbol indicates a service mark. Its objective is to communicate the validation of rights in the mark, particularly in relation to services such as banking or legal services, rather than physical items. Similar to the TM symbol, having an SM symbol does not guarantee legal protection for the owner’s mark under trademark rules. Furthermore, a service mark’s registration status has no bearing on the right to use the SM symbol.

Trademark vs Copyright vs Patent

SN.	Trademark	Patent	Copyright
1	What’s protected	Any word, phrase, symbol or design that recognizes and differentiates the source of one party’s goods from those of another.	Inventions, such as procedure, manufacturer, composition, machines of matter as well as improvements to these.
2	Requirements for protection	A mark must be distinguishable, in the sense that it must be able to identify the source of a certain good.	A fresh, valuable, and unusual invention is required.
3	Term of protection	As long as the mark is used in commerce.	20 years
4	Rights Granted	Right to use the mark and to prohibit others from using identical marks in a way that could create confusion about the goods or services’ origin.	Right to restrict others from manufacturing, selling, or importing the patented invention.