HOW TO DO TRADEMARK REGISTRATION?
INTRODUCTION:
A Trademark can be used for both goods and services. In a general point of view a trademark is a mark which is basically used in a trade to distinguish one product or service from the other. A trademark can be any word, symbol, number, phrase or even combinations of words, numbers, symbols to distinguish one from the other competitors. A trademark protection is granted for 10 years.
Having a registered trademark has become essential in the today’s world because of the competition. You are investing and using your money to build a brand and then you see that brand is getting used by some other person without your permission will cause a lot of damage. That’s why in India often business owners get into trouble and suffer loss in the relevant market for not registering their trademark when it was required.
Furthermore, trademark registration is not a very difficult task, you can hire trademark attorney to help you to protect your brand. The trademark registry offices are situated in Mumbai and branch offices are at Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata. There are some simple steps which one needs to be followed to get his trademark get registered.
STEP 1:
The first step is trademark search which the most essential part for registration of trademark. And many business owners do this mistake, they don’t understand the gravity to do a trademark search before proceeding. A trademark search helps you to find whether there are similar or identical marks of your trademark which you are going for registration. If there is any then you can go for something else if you want to avoid litigation. Trademark search helps you to save money and time.
STEP 2:
After that when you are sure that your mark is not there in the trademark registry, you can go for filling of an application under the Trademark Registry of the respective jurisdiction. Also, the trademark registry has made it easier by allowing to apply through online. Nowadays e-filing procedure is there for trademark application.
STEP 3:
After filing an application for your mark, there will be examination by the Registrar of the Trademark Registry. The examination process takes 12-18 months, the application will either be accepted or objected. If there is any ground for objection according to Section 9 and Section 11 of the Trademark Act, 1999, then the examining attorney will object the mark and send a notice to the respective attorney. After which the applicant must file a reply within one month of the objection or else the objection will be abandoned.
STEP 4:
Once the application is granted after acceptance of the response, the mark will be published and advertised in the journal by the trademark registry. And if the response is not accepted then the hearing procedure will commence. In present era there one is allowed to have virtual hearing too.
STEP 5:
After the mark gets published in the journal, the waiting period of 4 months starts. Within that 4 months anyone who is interested can oppose the mark. Then registrar must go for a fear haring and give a decision. And if there is no opposition then the mark will go for registration. Once the mark gets accepted and registered then the trademark registry will publish the registration certificate.
STEP 6:
Again, after 10 years the trademark owner go for renewal of his trademark so that one can protect their trademark for a long time.
CONCLUSION:
In a nutshell, it can be concluded that the trademark registration in India doesn’t consume time and is also a smooth procedure. We at IPRinn Associates can help you to get your trademark registered effortlessly to protect your brand name. From the very first step to the last we will be with you to protect your brand name.