Overview
A trademark (subset of intellectual property) can be defined as a an intangible asset of a person which can be transferred in any other name if required. There are different types of intellectual property such as Patents, Industrial Property, Trade Secrets, Copyright, and Geographical Indicators, Trademark is one amongst them. In general, trademark should be considered as a word, symbol, or phrase, used to identify a particular manufacturer or trader’s products or services and distinguish them from the products or services of another. For example, the trademark “Puma,” identify the shoes made by Puma and distinguish them from shoes made by other companies (e.g. HushPuppies or Adidas). Although service marks and trademarks are treated as same, these two are different. If such registered marks are used to identify services (e.g. “ComplianceBuddy”) rather than products, they should be referred as service marks. Trademarks or Service marks can be obtained by an individual, corporate, partnership firm, private limited or any other legal entity registered in India. The trademark related services are regulated by the Trademarks Act of 1999, The Trade Marks Rules of 2002, and The Trade Marks (Amendment) Rules of 2017.
Why you should register your trademark
It is important for consumers of goods or services to identify the genuine source of goods or services procured. If the brand name or logo is registered, customers can quickly refer to that registered mark instead of reading the detailed label printed on the product. For example when you are buying a laptop, instead of asking the seller who has manufactured this, you can refer the brand name mentioned on it. Similarly, when you are obtaining a tax planning service, instead of choosing any random tax planner you may choose chartered accountants from Indiafilings service or ComplianceBuddy® as they are the registered brands.
Think of a scenario when you started a business having a unique idea or with a unique brand name and someone utilized the same for his/her advantage. Obviously, there is no point then to start such a unique concept. To avoid such kind of scenarios, you have to become “King of Your Business” and to become king of your business, it is vital to obtain your trademark or patent or logo registration to protect it from any sort of misuse by your competitor. Once you obtain the trademark registration you acquire the right to sue, in case of its misuse.
Assessment of an eligible trademark
Before applying for a trademark, a professional help should be taken to assess whether the trademark you want to register can be obtained or not. A particular trademark qualifies the eligibility criteria if it doesn’t bear resemblance to any pre-registered trademark in the office of the comptroller general. One also needs to ensure that the trademark should be distinct. The agent usually starts the registration process by determining if the trademark is eligible for registration and conducting a clearance search to see if there is a similar mark in the office of the comptroller general.
Trademark Registration process in India
Trademark registration is an online process. Trademark application can be filed by any recognised trademark agent, usually a professional like company secretary, advocate, etc. Since the registration is granted on first-to-apply basis, it should be filed at the earliest. One can start using TM with the brand name after the trademark is applied for. It usually takes 6 to 9 months to obtain trademark registration if no objection is raised over the application and it might take upto 3 years and even more than that in case the objection is raised over the application filed. There is government fee of Rs 4,500 for individuals and Rs 9,000 for corporate. However, if a private limited or an LLP is having MSME registration, the govt fees shall be Rs 4,500 only instead of Rs 9,000.
Documents Required for Trademark Registration:
The documents required for trademark or logo registration depends on type of entity. Further these documents are not required in hard copy as the scanned copies of below-mentioned documents are sufficient for application process.
For Sole Proprietorship
- ID proof of proprietor like PAN card, Aadhar card or any govt photo ID proof
- Address proof of proprietor like Aadhar card, Driving License, Passport or any other valid address proof
- Soft copy of Logo to be registered if registration is for Device
- Signed Form 48 which is an authorization to the agent/ attorney from applicant
For Other Entity (Partnership/ LLP/ Company)
- ID proof of Authorized Signatory
- Address proof of Authorized Signatory
- Incorporation certificate/ Partnership Deed
- MSME Registration Certificate
- Soft copy of Logo to be registered if registration is for Device
- Signed Form 48 which is an authorization to the agent/ attorney from applicant
Why Choose Us?
With the ever growing use of internet and social media platforms, there is high probability of trade names or logos getting misused by the competitors if not secured. That is why business organisations and individuals are realizing the importance of Trademark or Logo registration. ComplianceBuddy® helps you to apply for trademark registration instantly within 2 hours of submission of required documents as we have some highly specialised attorneys working in the field of intellectual property rights in India. You can start using the TM with your brand name within 24 hours and that is the fastest possible time in India to start using TM against your brand name. Although, any attorney can apply for trademark registration the difference is noticed when the trade name gets objected due to its generic nomenclature or relating to any specific registered brand name. Our specialised experts/ attorneys through smooth hearing process ensure that if there is any chance of trade name getting registered, the registration is obtained for the client. Hence the major difference between us and other attorneys/ agents lies in the expertise of handling the objected trademark cases.
Unless the trademark is obtained, Compliance Buddy® maintains the full communication with you through your preferred mode of communication to enable smooth application and hearing process.
