Trademark:
One of the essential process in business is trademark registration. A trademark is a category of intellectual property consisting of observable design, sign or expression which identifies product or services. This typically safeguards names and logos used on goods and service. A service mark is same as a trademark except that it distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The law of trademark is governed by the protection of the Trade Marks Act,1999.
Why should I register my company for trademark?
There is a global acceptance that the exclusive or diverse brand is one of the most treasured resource of any kind of business. Identification of the product or the service by customers among various number of competitors is essential in business network. Also to preserve your logo from infringement actions by third party, trademark registration of your unique brand logo plays a vital role.
Who can apply for trademark?
Any Indian citizen can apply for the registration of the trademark in India. In case of formation of a new company, anybody may apply in their name for consecutive assignment of the registration.
Necessity of trademark:
Stages involved in registering a trademark
- Trademark search and filing
- Allocation of application number
- PER- Preliminary Examination report
- Advertisement in trademark Journal and publication
- Hearing
- Objection handling and Registration
Trademark search and filing:
Before proceeding with registration process, the administrator or the trademark professional must supervise a trademark search for the product or the service which is to be registered. This process will provide information about equivalent or identical trademark that has been already filed with the trademark repository. Once the search is completed, the application can be filed with trademark registrar. The trademark registration application must contain logo, name and address of the proprietor, classification or class of the trademark, date and description of the goods or services used.
Allocation of application number:
The trademark application allotment number is provided within one or two working days and can be tracked through official sites. Next to this process, the holder of the trademark can affix the TM symbol next to the logo.
PER- Preliminary Examination report:
After the allocation of application number, the trademark registration application will be allotted to a trademark officer in the trademark registrar office. The officer would then review for corrections and issue a preliminary examination report. The applicant has the right to appear before the officer and address the objections, If the trademark application is rejected by the trademark officer.
Trademark journal and publication:
Once the trademark registration application is acknowledged by the Registrar of trademark, the scheduled trademark is published in the trademark journal which consist of all the trademarks that have been acknowledged by the Trademark registrar. The public have the freedom to challenge the objections of the trademark registration, if they trust that they will be blemished by that particular trademark registration. If there is no objections raised within 90 days of that publication, the trademark will be registered within 12 weeks.
Hearing :
If an objection is opposed by a third party, the applicants will be called for hearing by the Trademark hearing officer. Both the parties have the opportunity to provide justification for registration or rejection of the trademark application. Based on the hearing and the evidence, the Hearing officer will determine the application.
Objection handling and Registration:
Finally, after handling all the objections raised by both the parties, the Trademark manuscript and the registration certificate will be prepared and sent to the trademark applicant. This trademark is considered to be a registered trademark of the owner. The ® symbol can now be fixed next to the logo or the trademark of the goods or services.