{"id":19607,"date":"2020-11-16T16:00:19","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T10:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/?p=19607"},"modified":"2021-07-23T17:58:13","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T12:28:13","slug":"difference-between-registered-and-unregistered-trademarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/difference-between-registered-and-unregistered-trademarks\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the Difference between Registered and Unregistered Trademarks? Let\u2019s Understand in Detail!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Building a brand is essential to the growth and continuous success of a business or an enterprise. Accordingly, some characteristics of a brand may involve valuable and protectable forms of intellectual property specifically, <strong><em>Trademarks<\/em><\/strong>. Consequently, trademarks are commonly used to prevent copy, infringement and imitations. In order to use and put into effect the trademark rights successfully, the management as well as implementation of overarching brand and marketing strategies includes measured trademark deliberation. It is important to understand the difference between Registered and unregistered Trademarks, especially as it related to the differences in the scope of protection in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">Page Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/difference-between-registered-and-unregistered-trademarks\/#What_do_you_mean_by_Registered_Trademark\" >What do you mean by Registered\nTrademark?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/difference-between-registered-and-unregistered-trademarks\/#What_do_you_mean_by_Unregistered_Trademarks\" >What do you mean by Unregistered\nTrademarks?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/difference-between-registered-and-unregistered-trademarks\/#Key_Differences_between_Registered_and_Unregistered_Trademarks\" >Key Differences between\nRegistered and Unregistered Trademarks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/difference-between-registered-and-unregistered-trademarks\/#Steps_for_Trademark_Registration_in_India\" >Steps for Trademark Registration in India<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/difference-between-registered-and-unregistered-trademarks\/#Conclusion\" >Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_do_you_mean_by_Registered_Trademark\"><\/span>What do you mean by Registered\nTrademark?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/trademark-registration\"><strong>Registered trademark<\/strong><\/a> grant a bundle of exclusive rights upon the registered owner, comprising the right to limited use of the trademark in relation to the goods or services. Trademark Registration is not an obligatory requirement in India. Trademark is registered for a time of 10 years and is subject to renewal. <strong><em>The Trademarks Act, 1999<\/em><\/strong> administers the whole process of registration. Registration is required for the following reasons-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Protects the commercial\ngoodwill of a trader;<\/li><li>Promotes goods and services;<\/li><li>Identifies the source of goods\nand services;<\/li><li>Defends the innocent public\nfrom buying bad quality goods.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Trademark Act offers\ncertain inducement for registration through various provisions. <strong><em>Chapter\n4<\/em><\/strong> of the <strong><em>Trademarks Act<\/em><\/strong> states the effects of the trademark Registration.\n<strong><em>Section\n27<\/em><\/strong> of Trademark Act provides that no action for infringement can be\ntaken for any unregistered trademark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But in case of\nregistered trademark, an infringement action lies where the distressed can be\nsought civil as well as criminal reliefs. Furthermore, <strong><em>Section 28 <\/em><\/strong>of the act grants\ncertain benefits on Trademark registration. Registration of a Trademark offers\nthe registered owner of the trademark the exclusive right to the use of the\ntrademarks in relation to the goods or service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, the\nregistered trademark can attain relief in respect of infringement of the\ntrademark in the manner provided by the Trademark Act. <strong><em>Section 31<\/em><\/strong> of the Trademark\nAct facilitates registration to be a prima facie evidence of validity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the Benefits of\nRegistered Trademarks for any Business?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Registration of\nTrademark gives a monopoly right to the mark in a particular region. It permits\nthe owner of any registered trademark to avoid any unauthorized use of trademark\nin relation to goods and services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The test is always whether a customer of the goods or services will be bewildered as to the individuality of the foundation or the source. The infringement of registered trademark can direct to filing of legal suits and the burden of proof of the plaintiff is eased due to Trademark registration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text-left\"><b>Read our article<\/b>:<mark style=\"background: #fffd03 !important;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/when-to-use-symbol-of-or-while-having-trademark-registration-online\/\">When to use Symbol of \u00ae or \u2122 while having Trademark Registration<\/a><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_do_you_mean_by_Unregistered_Trademarks\"><\/span>What do you mean by Unregistered\nTrademarks?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Unregistered\ntrademark is one which does not enjoy any legal benefits. But in some cases, an\nunregistered trademark can obtain some common law benefits. Unregistered trademarks\nare defined as a mark which are not registered with respective of goods &amp;\nservices that is names, marks or logos used in a business under the Trademark\nAct. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although, under <strong><em>Section\n27<\/em><\/strong> no action for infringement is permitted for unregistered trademarks,\nit can still be protected by means of common law that is <strong><em>Passing Off.<\/em><\/strong> To succeed\nin such actions, it is essential to establish that the unregistered trademark\nhas similar goodwill or status in association with the goods, services or business\nwith which it is associated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Owner of any\nunregistered trademark can be able to prevent the use by another party of any\ninfringing mark in pursuant to the <strong><em>Law of Tort<\/em><\/strong>&#8211; passing off. The action\ntaken against passing off is based on the principle that <em>&#8216;a person cannot sell his own goods under the deception that they are\nthe goods of another person&#8217;<\/em>. Passing off is a class of unfair trade\ncompetition by which one person can seek profit from the reputation of another\nperson in a particular trade or business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Essential Ingredients of Passing\nOff<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>There are some essential ingredients of a passing off action, which are as follows:-<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Essential-ingredients-of-Passing-Off.png\" alt=\"Essential Ingredients of Passing Off\" class=\"wp-image-19612\" width=\"519\" height=\"519\" srcset=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Essential-ingredients-of-Passing-Off.png 1000w, https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Essential-ingredients-of-Passing-Off-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Essential-ingredients-of-Passing-Off-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Essential-ingredients-of-Passing-Off-768x768.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 519px) 100vw, 519px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The plaintiff is required to\nprove that there is a similarity in the trade names;<\/li><li>The defendant is misleadingly\npassing off his goods as those of the plaintiff;<\/li><li>There is confusion in the minds\nof the customers;<\/li><li>The test applied in such cases\nis whether a man of average intelligence and of imperfect recollection will be\nconfused by seeing the goods &amp; services.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Key_Differences_between_Registered_and_Unregistered_Trademarks\"><\/span>Key Differences between\nRegistered and Unregistered Trademarks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>The differences between registered and unregistered trademarks are discussed in the points given below:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Key-Differences-between-Registered-and-Unregistered-Trademarks.png\" alt=\"Differences between Registered and Unregistered Trademarks\" class=\"wp-image-19613\" width=\"490\" height=\"490\" srcset=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Key-Differences-between-Registered-and-Unregistered-Trademarks.png 1000w, https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Key-Differences-between-Registered-and-Unregistered-Trademarks-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Key-Differences-between-Registered-and-Unregistered-Trademarks-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Key-Differences-between-Registered-and-Unregistered-Trademarks-768x768.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 490px) 100vw, 490px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Legality under Registration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A registered\ntrademark is the symbol, word, logo or any other unique mark, which is legally\nregistered with the national trademark registry, on behalf of the company or\nsource of the goods. While an unregistered trademark is a trademark which is not\nofficially registered but it is used by the company without any approval from\nthe specific authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Protection under Law<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;A registered trademark is confined under the <strong><em>Trade Mark Act, 1999<\/em><\/strong>, whereas an unregistered trademark owner gets protection under the <strong><em>Common Law<\/em><\/strong><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Common_law\"><strong><em>[1]<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/sup>. The trademark rights under common law are not as powerful as rights of registered trademark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Validity of Goodwill<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the legal\nproceedings, registered trademarks have the benefit of prima facie authority. On\nthe other hand, the unregistered trademark owner has to demonstrate the\nvalidity with the importance and goodwill attached to the unregistered trademark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Burden of Proof<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When the legality\nof a registered trademark is challenged, the burden of proof lies with the\nother party that is the opponent. Conversely, in case of any unregistered\ntrademark, the burden of proof lies with the owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ownership Enforceability<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If the trademark\nis registered, then nationwide protection is available to the owner. Whereas, when\nthe trademark is unregistered, the enforceability is limited to a specific\narea, in which the owner has the reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Application of TM symbol<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The owner can use\nthe <strong><em>TM\nsymbol<\/em><\/strong> once they apply the trademark on their goods or services. TM\nsymbol designate that the trademark used by the owner is a trademark of that\nparticular owner. The logo is generally written in small font and is positioned\nbeside the trademark. The unregistered trademark holder can use the TM or the\ntrademark symbol but has no right to use the symbol <strong><em>\u00ae<\/em><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Application of \u00ae Symbol<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong><em>\u00ae\nsymbol<\/em><\/strong> is a demonstration of registered trademark. Once a trademark is\nregistered effectively without any opposition and the certificate of trademark\nregistration is issued, the owner can use the <strong>\u00ae<\/strong> logo along with the <strong>\u2122<\/strong>\nlogo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Steps_for_Trademark_Registration_in_India\"><\/span>Steps for Trademark Registration in India<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>The process for Trademark registration in India is as follows-<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Trademark search and selection<\/li><li>Application to the Registrar\nfor trademark registration<\/li><li>Application number allotted to\nthe applicant<\/li><li>Data entry<\/li><li>Scanning<\/li><li>Examination and Examination\nreport is dispatched.<\/li><li>Issue of certificate<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Registration of a\ntrademark has several motivations. Registration guards the trademark from any action\nof infringement which provides relief to the registered trademark holders. Therefore\nwe can say it is significant to register a trademark to create goodwill in the\nmarket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To survive in an easy way and for a longer period of time in the market, every individual, partnerships, company or organization shall apply for the trademark registration provided that the requirements of the Trademarks are met. The difference between registered and unregistered trademarks are explained above, Contact <a href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/\"><strong>Corpbiz<\/strong><\/a> to know about Trademark Registration in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text-left\"><b>Read our article<\/b>:<mark style=\"background: #fffd03 !important;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/benefits-of-trademark-registration-in-india\/\">A Deep Analysis on Benefits of Trademark Registration<\/a><\/mark><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Building a brand is essential to the growth and continuous success of a business or an enterprise. Accordingly, some characteristics of a brand may involve valuable and protectable forms of intellectual property specifically, Trademarks. Consequently, trademarks are commonly used to prevent copy, infringement and imitations. In order to use and put into effect the trademark [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":19615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[1216],"acf":{"service_id":"18"},"authorName":"Sakshi Srivastava","authorImageUrl":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG-20180130-WA0007.jpg","authorDescription":"Sakshi has pursued B.B.A.LL.B.(IPR Hons.). She is an avid reader and is keen to gather and share her knowledge on the subjects relating to IPR, Company Law and GST. Priorly she has worked as a legal researcher and vide her articles she aims at improving the core knowledge of the subjects to the masses.","postViews":6260,"readingTime":5,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19607"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19607"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33430,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19607\/revisions\/33430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}