While getting into a business of online trading, startups always come across a general query- whether it is necessary to obtain a trademark registration for an e-commerce store? Well, the answer is that the Trademark registration is not mandatory for the merchant operating an online store. But still it is necessary to protect the IP rights of a company whether it exist in a physical form or another like e-commerce store.
Transformation of Current Scenario of E-commerce Store
Shopping via e-commerce store has become very common these days as it is conducive to buy things and with just few clicks you can place your order without wandering in the market. Today, majority of the consumers resist to approach retail shops & aren’t at mercy of seller offerings a particular merchandise.
The current scenario of e-commerce store has completely transformed the way we shop or buy goods. The increased dominance of online stores has made the market customer-centric rather than seller-centric. To work in legal space, the online businesses do need to get registered for several government and tax-based licenses.
Apart from that, these businesses can also avail registration for copyright and trademark to preserve their IP rights. Though trademark registration is not mandatory, we strictly advised you to get the same to avoid future complications. A Trademark registration is the only way to secure the brand name or logo of an entity from the brand pirates.
Why e-commerce Store Needs Trademark Registration?
Two decade ago, no one knows about the e-commerce store or online trading. The trading regime was dominated by the small and big retailer. But as the time progresses, internet stretches it footprint all across the globe that gave birth to online business model.
This further laid the foundation for e-commerce store. The dominance of e-commerce store has led to growth of various niche players dealing with specialize products. Thousands of websites were currently working in this business domain in India. Since the rate of success of this business model is considerably higher as per the current trends, its make them a perfect candidate for counterfeiting.
Every year due to trademark violation, e-commerce stores bears tremendous monetary loss. As the cases of infringement are growing every year, it becomes cumbersome for online sellers to stay protected for extended timeline.
Read our article:Overview on Cost of Trademark Registration
Risk of Brand Violation & Fraud
With so startups are planning to step into e-commerce business domain, the risk of brand violation & fraud is also high. Getting trademark registration for business name and logo could be helpful in protecting the e-commerce store against the act of infringement.
With smaller e-commerce store may perceive trademark as an unnecessary thing, experts advised that all online sellers strive to trademark their intangible assets at the earliest to ensure full-fledge protection for their brand name. This is particularly effective if you are planning to dealing with unique commodities or services for sale.
Protection to Company’s Intangible Assets
Trademark registration mitigates the chances of unauthorized access to brand name as it allows the owner file suit against the defaulter in case of trademark dispute. Apart from ensuring comprehensive protection to company’s intangible assets, trademark registration strengthen the company reputation in the target market.
Transfers the Burden of Proof
Trademark registration carries a host of legal right for the owner that ensures the full-fledge protection of the intangible assets of the company. Since the Trademark registration creates the Legal presumptive of owner, it transfers the burden of proof onto the person raising objection rather than the owner of the trademark in case of legal dispute.
Benefits of Having a Registered Trademark for your E-commerce store
The following section manifests the viable benefits offered by the Trademark registration:-
Protection for Your Business
A registered Trademark can safeguard your company name and other valuable assets from being used by others. It can secure the name and logo of the products available for consumer[1] market. A business holding a registered trademark carries legal rights that come handy while settling the dispute related to Trademark infringement with another party.
Provides Security against Brand Damage
A trademark can safeguard your brand from serious Legal injuries. On the web-based platform we can ensure 100% protection of our brand on a nationwide or global basis from being infringed by defaulters using it, copying your product.
Confer Legal Right to Contain the Infringing Activities
Brands under trademark protection are less likely to get counterfeit or infringed by the defaulter. This is due to the fact that the under the Trademark Act, the punishment for the act of infringement is quite severe. This eventually helps in keeping the infringers at the bay.
Trademark Offers Pre-Emptive Right
The Trademark Act provides the trademark owner a pre-emptive right over the associated services & vice versa. Therefore, it limits the act of infringement when it comes to the “Similar” goods and services. It therefore differs from the previous Act, which only rendered protection from copying of the same “goods”, thereby strengthening the protection given to a mark.
Conclusion
Owing to unparalleled convenience and cost-effectiveness, E-commerce business has become an imperative part of our lives. Unlike traditional market, online store are more intuitive, user-friendly, and somewhat more reliable. Their increasing dominance is slowly eroding traditional market.
Digitization has given an edge to online seller to reap easy profit without being hassling up with huge expenditure. But, you must keep in mind that profit comes with certain threats. The successful online businesses are more susceptible to brand piracy. The store can suffer considerable losses due to this and the only solution to this problem is IP protection mechanism.
To minimize such risks, the online seller must update the trademark portfolio in the timely manner. To addition to that, online merchant can opt for IP protection mechanism to secure their rights & interests and to mitigates the pre-emptive registrations & malicious complaints.
Read our article:Trademark Registration and Process for Trademark Objection
