Trademark

Meaning of Trademark

Trademark means a brand or a logo in simple terms that represents our business.

A trademark is a corporate symbol that contributes to the image that any company trying to build. In Legal sense, a trademark is a form of protection of your corporate symbols from use by any unauthorized parties. .A trademark can be a separate symbol from the logo of the company or a business. 

Trademark is also a mark of quality and excellence that identifies that company as the manufacturer. A trademark can be a word , logo, symbol, brand name, wrapper, packaging labels, tagline and  can be a combination of color, typestyle and shape or it can be only a shape and color used by manufactures or service providers to identify their own products or services. Trademark is used to differentiate the owner’s products or services from those of its competitors.

Example of Trademark- Pepsi and Coca-Cola are two trademarks from the same industry which distinctly identifies origin or source of the goods as well as indication of quality.

Registration of Trademark in India

In India, Trademarks are registered by the Controller General of Patent design and Trademarks, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. All Trademarks are registered under the Trademark Act, 1999 and provide the right to owner of the trademark to sue for damages when infringements of trademarks occur.

Any trademark which is similar or identical to an existing registered trademark for which application for registration has been made by another company, cannot be registered. And also that trademarks which cause confusion or deception or is offensive may not be registered under the Trademark Act.

Application for Trademark

Any person which can be a company, an individual, a proprietor or any legal entity claiming to be owner of the trademark can apply. The application of trademark can be filed within few days and we can start using “TM” symbol and the time required for registry of trademark to complete formalities is 18 to 24 months. We may use the registration symbol next to our trademark one our trademark is registered and registration certificate is issued.

Documents needed for filing a Trademark Application in India

Any company that wants trademark will have to require following documents for filing a Trademark application in India:-

·       Copy of Trademark or Logo

·        Applicant’s detail like Name, Address and nationality and for the Company: the state of Incorporation

·       Goods or Services to register

·       Date of first use of the trademark in India, used by the prior to applying

·       Power of attorney to be signed by the applicant who applying for trademark