You would be surprised by the value of even modest brands, which may be worth millions of dollars. These assessments are based on the value they bring to the company. Great brands enjoy continuous word-of-mouth promotion, may fetch higher pricing, and can even generate royalties by licensing the name to another party. You must register your trademark in order to assign rights and do other things.
What if other companies started using this brand name without your consent, leaving you with no choice except to file a protracted lawsuit that might take years to conclude? Surely, that shouldn’t happen. This is where registering a trademark online can help. It is not at all required. However, possessing one guarantees that the phrase, symbol, or slogan you have trademarked is completely under your control.
Additionally, if you’ve registered the trademark, it will be simple to prove your legal rights in court, saving you time and money on legal bills. Not yet persuaded? Let’s go over the three primary ways why, in the absence of a registered trademark, your brand might be harmed.
Why is Trademark Registration Necessary?
Lose Rights of Name
If you don’t register your brand as a trademark, another company may choose the same name and register it. If this does occur, the other company can then try to prevent you from using the name even though you were using it before them. Now that trademark laws do recognise the first user of the trademark, you may still be able to keep your rights to the name even after spending a lot of money on legal fees.
However, since trademark rights are territorial, the courts may divide the rights to the name by area of operation unless you’ve been operating throughout India. As a result, the other company would have more coverage under the name if it had been operating under the name in a bigger region of India. On the other hand, you wouldn’t have this issue at all if you had registered the name sooner.
Cause Confusion among Consumers
Owners of trademarks have the right to object to new trademarks that are confusingly similar to their own. As an illustration, Satyam Infoway Ltd was successful in convincing the courts to reject Sifynet Solutions Pvt Ltd on the grounds that it would cause consumer confusion. Those who have not registered their trademarks are not eligible for this right.
As a result, another company with a similar name would have the right to operate in India (and even to copyright the name), which might potentially weaken your brand’s visibility if the other company is more successful than yours. It might not even be possible to take legal action in this situation.
Cybersquatting Troubles
Do you have any idea how many different ways your domain name could be used? 100s, for sure. And a whole business is built around the simple purchasing and selling of profitable domain names. In fact, it is so widespread that a Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy was created to address it (UDRP). Without a trademark, it can be more difficult to convince the UDRP or the courts that the different domain combinations (such as example.co.uk or example.biz) violate your company’s rights. But when you have a trademark, it’s really simple to do.
Types of Trademark Registration
There are 5 important categories of Trademark Registration
Generic Mark
Generic trademarks are not allowed since they forbid other businesses from using them. For instance, your trademark won’t be recognised if a company that produces computer parts adopts the generic term “Computers.” This guarantees that every company will have the chance to brand their presence by including a generic term in the name. The entire trademark name shouldn’t be the generic word.
Descriptive Mark:
A descriptive trademark is the one which describes the characteristics of the service or product. For instance, ‘Best ice-cream shop’ will not be most qualified to receive the approval of the trademark. Since it is very descriptive about its one of the characteristics i.e. ‘best’.
Suggestive Mark
A suggestive symbol alludes to a feature of the commodity or service. Consider Amazon as an illustration. The Amazon logo suggests that the corporation offers everything from A to Z by showing an arrow that extends from “a” to “z.” It also serves as a smiley face symbol. Although this has little to do with the details of the product, with a little creativity, we can connect it to the business. It’s referred to as a provocative mark. A suggestive symbol alludes to a feature of the commodity or service. Consider Amazon as an illustration. The Amazon logo suggests that the corporation offers everything from A to Z by showing an arrow that extends from “a” to “z.” It also serves as a smiley face symbol.
Fanciful Mark
A whimsical mark is distinctive, interesting, and provides the phrase or logo a new meaning. For example, “Adidas” is not a brand name and neither is it a word in the English dictionary. Since these names are distinctive, trademarking them would be simple and unlikely to cause any issues with registration.
Arbitrary Mark
A name having a different meaning but no link to the brand is referred to as an arbitrary mark. One well-known example is “Apple,” for instance. Although the name refers to a fruit, the company actually provides computers and phones.
The TM directory can be thoroughly searched with the aid of Online Legal India. We draft the letter of authorisation, provide you with guidance on the courses, help you fill out the paperwork, provide you updates, and much more. Visit Online Legal India to ensure a hassle-free registration process.
Conclusion
You must evaluate your research to determine which kind of trademark registration is suitable for your good or service before applying for one. Before choosing your trademark kind, you can also speak with one of our knowledgeable attorneys. Also keep in mind that a trademark that is registered in India is only good for use there.
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