In a world where first copies are effortlessly available for every brand in the market, it becomes necessary to register your brand name. Following the trademark search process, one must check the availability of the trademark before registration. This shows you that the brand is available for registration or that someone else has already registered or applied for the same brand name.
What is a Trademark Search?
Although it may ostensibly appear straightforward, a trademark search process is actually a far broader term than many realize. A trademark search process can not only be a search database for the continuation and use of registered trademarks but can also use it to return results on unregistered brands.
These searches can be conducted by region or on an international level to show the marks used to relate to your search conditions. Trademark search is not limited to using keywords as search terms, either as trademark numbers; Image or owner can also conduct searches. Therefore, trademark searches are not just online searches of registered awareness trademarks but can also use them a lot.
Why Trademark Search Process Is Required?
As we have examined, failing to carry out an inclusive trademark search at any of these key stages could prove detrimental for your trademark. Not only could this result in incompetence to safeguard your mark as the registered one, still it may tend to Curtailment of your brand’s success.
Sometimes you may find a failure while conducting a trademark search. To get success, at the very prior procedure before initiating your approach towards trademark search, the registration of such mark mandates clearly about your company, unfortunately, failed to register a trademark, which further refused by the authority because of a pre-existing mark which does not recognize or acknowledged up in your search list.
The trademark search process must be done with concern and sought to infringe the status of such mark during the tenure of your searched mark, for example, any of the competitor’s marks infringing upon unknowingly. Thus, a lack of recognition within the surroundings related to infringements could lead to wrong in business and shall hamper your mark’s exclusivity and value.
All of the above said Sequences and their results of a failure in conducting a comprehensive search represent a significant and unnecessary drain on resource funds.
To Conduct A Trademark Search Process
As it is imperative to perform or conduct a search for a trademark search when required, we must remember that such searches are to be carried out comprehensively by a professional. An unorganized and well-mannered trademark search process has no better relevance than a non-existent search and causes a greater impact and loss on the company funds.
At the time of conducting the trademark searches, you possess broadly two ways, and those are as follows:-
- Conduct trademark searches in-house or,
- Expedite the trademark searches to an end of the external service provider.
Performing the Searches Internally
Many corporate houses initially think to execute the trademark searches in-house, believing that the procedure shall not be unnecessarily challenging and will further save the money from external experts’ ends. This tool can be specifically profitable for smaller corporate houses with a small intellectual portfolio and registered in one locality of the same territory with limited trademark needs.
- As trademark searches are unlikely to be involved with particularly in-depth or challenging efforts, then the risks conducted improperly are reduced. More importantly, it’s prominent to have in mind that, even when these searches are comparatively simpler, it could remain with room for errors.
- Thus, while conducting a trademark search process in-house, it’s better to consider and keep along with the best database, which perfectly suits your requirements. These searches could be performed and conducted under the help and guidance of several available national IP offices that possessed their self online databases and could be easily discoverable online and accessible.
- Like WIPO, few additional IP office databases for searching tools for marks are registered in multiple Indian territories; unfortunately, these additional dimensions to the trademark search process can further complicate it.
- Trademark searches and their findings on such online databases can be conducted initially via name or keyword or randomly by trademark number, image, or owner. While selecting to conduct these trademark searches by own, it’s necessary to know thelinguistic, phonetic, and national variations.
- Along with these national databases, few other commercial databases can be easily available online. And the available are not all free of charge.
- Using a few national database searches and hiring external service providers, the said commercial databases could provide more immediate satisfactory results than national databases’ free trademark services.
Trademark Searches Performing In Searches Externally
For several businesses, navigating a goldfield of trademark searches literally means the greater possibility of unnecessary risks. Thus they are quite selective in hiring external service providers to conduct their trademark searches.
- In hiring an external trademark, searching experts has the benefit of saving enough time involved in conducting such trademark searches by the unskilled person itself. Still, it’s quite far better than the in-house searching of trademarks and has satisfactory results likely to be provided by the experts of said fields.
- External searching service experts do not suffer from the issues associated with your in-house search trademark that conducted internally. Literally, the external providers often comprise and accept the international teams as they are self-sufficient on their own. Hence an awareness and recognition of national variations affecting your trademark searches are secondary for them.
- The external agents possess years of experience in conducting trademark searches and are likely to be far more knowledgeable, with logical understanding and success than your internal team, who does not have a trademarked searching degree experience despite their legal sharp skills.
- Eventually, the external specialists possess and bear more resources in hand than your in-house team. They are not merely limited in trademark searching at national databases for registered trademarks but also have access to other additional databases and can easily search any unregistered marks and domains.
- Along with the polishing and giving the best of efforts in the aforementioned national and commercial trademark databases, the skilled service providers can also offer additional screening services tailored accordingly to your business’s needs.
- Such services highlight and embark you with the legal and commercial consequences of registering before your mark for a complete foresight into your registration’s effects and success.
An Ideal Approach and Technique before Filing the Trademark Application for Trademark Registration
We must possess the knowledge and understandings of 5 basic requirement and necessities ongoing before applying for trademark registration:-
Step 1: Class Search
The initial step begins for trademark registration with the trademark search is a sound selection of the right or correct class, according to the norms and rules of Trademark Ministry, which has classified the various goods and services in the sects of 45 classes. Therefore, one must select the right class for classified products or services; accordingly, one’s wishes to deal with them.
A product can seem to lie in one or two classes; thus, select the best suitable and appreciate class and select all the suitable classes according to the goods and service description. Such classes easily are selected under the classification of goods and services from the Trademark Ministry’s portal. http://www.mca.gov.in/
- On a click of the above provided link you will come to the homepage of ministry of Trademark.
- You will find the tab “search”, enters here your product or service that will show the related list of classes within the same.
- Therefore, it’s efficent and hassle free to select the most suitable class during the tenure of conducting the trademark search process.
Step 2: Trademark Search via the Trademark Ministry Portal
After selecting a class, the next step in the trademark search process is to check the brand name’s availability following the below-listed steps.
- View in the Trademark Portal and come to this page.
- In search option, type select Word mark from the drop-down list.
- In the first row, find another list in front of a word mark, where needs to select yours Containsand write your brand name in the box.
- In the second segment in class box, mention the class number where you want to search your brand name and after that click on search button.
- You will see the similar matching brand names. If there is no similar like brand name, the findings will be shown.
- Now select Phonetic from the first drop-down list against the search type and enter the brand name and category described above and search again.
- It is important to check the brand name phonetically as it might be with no similar brand names but there are brand names which could sound similar.
- It is important to check the brand name as it may not be with similar other brand names, but there are brand names that may sound similar.
- The ministry shall not approve the trademark application even there is a phonetically similar brand name. So phonetic check is a mandatory.
These complete guide and well descriptions with various basic steps may help you do a trademark search process and decide whether to apply with the same brand name.
Conclusion
One can easily search the brand name’s availability using this guide. Still, it is always recommended to help professionals who have technical knowledge about trademark laws, making a better decision. However, the final discretion to approve the trademark application rests with the trademark ministry. Kindly contact our Corpbiz experts to no more about the trademark search process.
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