Your business' identity or logo is critical to your corporate identity - it appears on everything from your office door to all your stationery and marketing materials. It can also contain a combination of any of the above. The legal process of examining and registering a trademark for a product or service is called trademark prosecution. You can register a mark by following a few legal procedures under trademark law.
An experienced attorney will guide you at every step of trademark registration. A trademark can protect your brand at every step of marketing.
Importance of Trademark
In India, filling a trademark comes under the trademark act 1999. Here are 3 main points to follow when registering a trademark:
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Search to make sure your trademark registration is original.
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Make sure your trademark is correct.
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Be positive that all desired goods and services are listed.
After the acceptance of the trademark application, it gets published in the trademarks journal. After the publication, its opposition process opened for three months. While the trademark prosecution process, the trademark examiner looks mainly at three things: strength, type, and clearance.
The strength refers to how distinct it is, and the trademark type refers to text-based trademarks and whether it is similar to other trademark slogans or not. Clearance refers to ensuring the trademark in question is unique or not.
The Trademark Act 1999 aids in trademark protection for trademark users. Here are the five essential things you must avoid in trademark prosecution.
Failure to Conduct a Trademark Search
One of the most common mistakes made by first-time application filers is to neglect to conduct a trademark search before they file their applications. The cost of searching often prevents traders from performing the necessary research. A trademark search reveals all of the marks that are similar or identical to your own. You must identify these marks and make changes to your mark before you file for registration; otherwise, your application may get opposed by trademark owners, and you might find yourself immersed in an infringement case.
Purely Descriptive Trademark
The purpose of your trademark is to distinguish you from your competitors. If your trademark is purely descriptive of your product or service and does not contain any other distinguishing elements, in that case, it may not qualify as a trademark and will be rejected by your examiner. Your trademark cannot have generic terms, as this will unfairly prevent other traders from using common words to refer to their goods or services. You should choose a unique and distinctive name to have the best chance of achieving registration.
The Improper Use of Your Mark Online
You use your trademark to identify the source of your goods or services to sell those goods or services. You cannot use a trademark to protect ideas or intangible property. Your examiner will check your website to ensure you use your trademark to sell your goods or services.
Failure to Meet Deadlines
Trademarks are the identifiers of a source of goods or services, so they cannot be identical or similar to one another. The trademark law works on a 'first-to-file' basis, which means that the first trader to apply for registration is the most likely to achieve it. You should seek protection for your trademark as soon as possible to ensure that no other competing trader attempts to register your mark as their own.
Choosing the Wrong Trademark Class
One must describe the products or services the trademark will apply on the application form. You must ensure that each product or service listed on the application must carry the company's trademark before the trademark office issues a trademark registration.
Conclusion
Through trademark prosecution, one can clearly understand the process of applying for a trademark. The best time to apply for trademark registration in Mumbai is when you create a name or logo for your business. If you register the trademark immediately, you don't have to worry about anyone else taking your name away. Your customers can do business with you without worrying about someone else taking the name. It could confuse the customers if another company tries to take your trademark away.
