Trademark plays a significant role in promotion of goods and services as it provides information about the quality of the goods. It facilitates any enterprise to obtain individual rights to use, allocate or allot a trademark which can be done through the process of Trademark Registration. India has a huge competitive market for business where there are huge numbers of new as well as identical brands or products that keeps rising every day. At this point, protecting your trademark becomes essential to prevent anybody from taking the benefits of your brand name or Trademark. In this article we will discuss about the Importance of Trademark Registration and Its Cruciality.
What is Trademark?
A trademark is a symbol or name on a particular good which indicates its distinctive origin or ownership of merchandise exclusively to its owner, thus making it a remote possibility for other companies to manipulate with its brand value and source. In other words, the trademark usually serves as a badge of origin, loyalty, and affiliation.
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What is Trademark Registration?
Trademark Registration is a legal process provided under the Trademark Act, 1999. By trademark registration you can protect your brand or logo by limiting other people from using the same name or logo.
The importance of trademark registration process in India is necessary if a company or individual intend to protect their logo from any misuse by any third party. Trademark registration will provide a legal right to instigate an action against third party in case of Trademark infringement. The registration will also provide an exclusive right to the owner to use it for its goods or services.
Owners like individual or any big companies have their goods and services trademarked and registered for the sole object of protecting their brand name and prohibit others from using and manipulating firms from their product’s name without the permission of the patent source. This is mostly designed to protect the intellectual property rights of the owner against copyright infringement and counterfeiting.
Trademark Symbols are Identified in two forms:-
- The Trademark symbol is denoted by the letters ‘TM’ in superscript [TM].
- The registered trademark is symbolized by the letter ‘R’ enclosed in a circle ®, placed immediately after the symbol.
Though, there is a slight difference in terms of usage.
The symbol of Trademark ™can be used by any firm or company engaged in common law usage of the mark, whereas the registered trademark symbol R can only be used as the legal owner of the trademark, having properly registered it. The importance of Trademark Registration depends upon the symbol that they have obtained from the trademark registry.
These are the oldest and the most important trademarks of KFC which exclusively recognize KFC’s ownership of the brand. Thus, a related food brand cannot use such a logo, slogan, or figural representation, if they look similar, sound similar or having a similar meaning to KFC’s or having a similar meaning to KFC’s registered trademarks.
Importance of Trademark Registration
Trademark Registration protects your brand and also provides you with the tools to prevent any third party from using your brand name. Trademark is proficient of categorizing the goods & services of one person from those of others and it also includes the packaging, shape of goods as well as combination of colors used.
Let us see more grounds for Importance of Trademark Registration in India.
Exclusive Rights
The owner of the registered trademark has the exclusive power and rights over the registered trademark. The individual can use the same for the benefits of all the goods that falls under the Trademark Class as approved in the application filed. The owner has the right to file legal suit & thus they enjoy the benefits of filing of legal suit when they feel that their rights have been infringed.
Builds trust and understanding
The good reputation as well as excellence of goods and services is known by trademark registration and it builds the trust and understanding among the clients in the global market. It also helps in making loyal and lasting clients who will reliably choose the same brand.
Differentiates Product
It makes easy for consumers to discover your goods easily. It makes your goods or service exclusive not relatively the same as that of the existing and expected competitor and goes for effectual promotional means. The logo can tell about the quality, convey your vision or special characteristic of the products for your organization as well as association.
Identify the product’s Quality
It gives identity to the quality of the goods & service. Customers connect with the service or the quality of the goods with that of the brand name. This helps in attracting new clients as they can differentiate between the quality of goods & service by the logo.
Asset Creation
Enrolled trademark is an advantage made that can be sold, franchised, assigned or economically contracted. In addition, the Trademark is an indistinguishable asset that gives a lot of benefit to the association.
Use of the symbol
When the trademark is listed, you can use the sign or logo stating that it is a registered trademark and nobody can exploit any similar trademark. It is discriminatoryfor a wide range of utilization just as rights. In any case if another person uses the trademark, at that point, you can also sue the person if the trademark is registered.
Safeguard against Trademark infringement
No opponent or other individuals can use the registered logo under trademark; the owner can take legal action under the Trademark Act[1] and stop any individual from doing as such things.
Global Trademark Registration
In case anyone needs to register for the trademark in places other than India, the trademark registered in India can be used as a basis of registration. For any individual willing to extend their registration outside India, the trademark registered in India can provide a decent base along with the established Goodwill in the country.
Infringement of Trademark
The term infringement means contravention or violation of the legal rights of a particular person or organization.
Trademark infringement in India is defined and elucidated under section 29 of the trademark act 1999. In simple words, a trademark is said to be infringed when an unauthorized or authorized person other than the registered proprietor, uses a mark that is identical, or deceptively similar to register a trademark.
Infringement is mainly committed due to the violation of exclusive rights granted to the registered proprietor of the trademark. A registered trademark is deemed to be infringed in the following situations-
- If the infringed mark is identical or deceptively similar to the registered trademark with a few modifications or alterations of similar goods or services.
- If the infringed mark share an equal amount of resemblance to the registered trademark that it is likely to create confusion in the minds of the consumers when selecting a category of products
- If the infringed trademark is advertised, consequently detrimental to the goodwill and distinctive character of the registered trademark.
- If the infringed mark is used as a part of the trade name in respect of which the mark is registered.
However, infringement of a trademark is made punishable under the Act of 1999. Punishment for trading goods or services using a false trademark is not less than six months extending up to three years accompanied by a fine of not less than 50,000 extending up to two lakhs.
The infringement of a trademark enables the registered proprietor to file a suit against the infringing party to recover the damages incurred by such fraudulent activity.
Conclusion
Trademark Registration furnishes an exclusive right to the owner and also differentiates the goods from other similar goods from other businesses. Trademark demonstrates as intangible assets for the owner and also protects the brand for a period of 10 years.
Trademark offers an exclusive right to the owner to utilize such words, logos as well as slogans. In a market like India it is essential that a brand is protected and safe. Henceforth, not out of compulsion but out of necessity there is importance of Trademark Registration in India.
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