How to register a trademark in India (TM ®)
If
you have started a business and created your brand and logo you may want to
know how to register a trademark in India.
What is a trademark?
·
Word or letter
·
Device
·
Brand
·
Logo
·
Slogan
·
Label, ticket, name,
signature
·
Three dimensional
shapes
·
Numeral, shape of
goods, packaging or
·
Combination of colors
·
Sound mark
What is trademark?
A trademark is any word,
phrase or logo used to distinguish the goods or services of one company from
another. A trademark can be a brand name, company name, slogan or logo.
Why is Trademark so important?
Trademarks are important
business tools because they allow companies to establish their products'
reputations. For instance, they prevent, an inferior product coming along and
seizing the market by deceiving the consumer. Anything that distinctly
identifies a product or service can be a trademark.
Trademark and Service Mark
Technically, a trademark
refers to a mark used on goods and products, whereas a service mark is used to
distinguish services in the stream of commerce.
Typically, trademarks
appear on the actual product or its packaging, while service marks appear
mostly in advertising for the service. However, the laws and registration
procedures of both trademarks and service marks are identical
When you register a trade mark in India you should:
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·
Avoid Selection of
identical, similar and deceptively similar trade marks
·
Avoid possible
conflicts & infringement action
·
Avoid unnecessary
costs
·
Avoid unnecessary
opposition at the trade mark office
So how to register a trademark in India?
Before
filing an application for registration of a mark in India, it is advisable to
conduct searches to insure
that the mark has not been used and registered by someone else in India. Such trademark searches can
be made online, at he the Office
of the Trademark Registry, by anyone who has an account with an Indian bank to
enable payment to that trademark office (you will also need an Indian address
and fill form TM-54). But it is faster and easier to appoint a trademark law
firm in India to do the searches and submit application for your company.
Selecting your trademark section
Before
registering a trademark in India you
should however know for which category (and subcategory) you want to register
your trademark. You can choose your product or service categories in
which your business operates (or plans to operate) at the World Intellectual Property
Organization. The site shows you all the 34 goods classes and 11 service
classes. For each class you register a trademark in India, you will have to pay
extra, the selection of several subcategories will however not attract any
extra cost. It is therefore advisable to select all the relevant indications of
goods or services in the selected section. The application can be submitted at
one of the Trade Mark Registry
offices in India in Mumbai (Head
Office), Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad or Chennai. The cost for the registration of
a trademark in India is 3,500 Rs (60 €) for each section (this is a Government
fee and does not include any property consultant or law firm fee for preparing
the application and eventual oppositions to be filed in case the application is
rejected).
Foreign companies who want to register a trademark in India
If
the applicant has already applied for Trademark protection in one of the
countries belonging to the Paris
Convention or signatories of the TRIPS Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO),
then an application for registration can be filed in India claiming the
property of registration from earlier corresponding application in the
convention country, provided
that the application is filed in India six months of the priority date.
Duration and validity of a trademark registration in India
Usually,
the Indian Trademark Registry grants the registration within a year, but
sometimes in can take longer.
The
registration is valid for
a period of 10 years, and may be renewed
for further periods of 10 years each with
payment of the renewal fee of 5,000 Rupees (80 €). So, a brand, if renewed on
time, can be protected in India indefinitely.
When
considering the investments companies are making to create their brands when entering
the Indian market or launching a new product or service, it is very advisable to
register a trademark in India as
soon as possible before other companies will use the same or a similar mark.
Posted in: TRADEMARKS
