What is Trademark Registration?
A Trademark Registration is a process that allows businesses to have their own unique identity by registering any visual symbol like word, name, device, label, or colors to distinguish their service or products from other competitors of the same business. Once the trademark is registered no other business or organization can use the same until the trademark is in use. This Trademark Registration also helps companies to protect their distinct identities and allows suing against others who try to copy them.
At SMBA we provide quick & easy Trademark Registration Service In Chennai for your Business to safegaurd your unique identity.
A Trademark Registration is technically a business’s intangible asset or intellectual property. It’s a protection shield of the company’s investment made in its unique logo or brand. At SMBA we provide quick & easy Trademark Registration Service In Chennai for your Business to safegaurd your unique identity.
Types of Trademark Registration Services in Chennai:
The trademark can be any visual content like logo, slogan, word, sound, color combinations, shape, and so on. Mostly many companies would choose for registration of name or logo of the business only. For anyone who wants to come up with a unique expression/idea for their business, the only possible way is to register it as a trademark to protect it.
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Name
- Product Name: You can register a particular product’s name, an abbreviation of business, company name, person’s name, or surname as a trademark.
E.g. Dhirubai Ambani, BMW, Apple Ipod.
- Logo/Symbol: It is highly recommended to trademark a logo because it visually represents your brand to the world. A customer can always recollect a logo faster than a name.
E.g. A tick symbol from Nike.
- Tagline: If you have a tagline for your brand, you can trademark that as well. A tagline summarizes what is our brand is all about.
E.g. “The taste of India” tagline by Amul.
- Color Mark: You can trademark color or a combination of colors.
(Ex: Cadbury has trademarked the color Purple)
- Sound Mark: Musical notes or sounds can be trademarked if we can prove that it’s distinctive.
E.g. Nokia has trademarked its tune.
- Scent Mark: Even scents can be trademarked.
Other than these you can also trademark invented words, numerals, monograms, devices, the shape of goods or their packaging, phrase, graphic content, symbols, etc.
Who can apply for a Trademark? (Trademark Registration Services in Chennai)
- Private firms
- Individuals
- Companies- Limited Liability Partnership, OPC, Private limited, Public, Partnership, etc.
- NGO’s
For NGOs and LLP companies, the trademark has to be applied for registration under the name of the concerned business or a company.
Advantages of Trademark Registration:
Business Opportunity:
It provides an excellent business opportunity to the company that sells its products or services being sold under trademarks helps in trust, goodwill, safety, quality in the mind of the customers.
Legal Protection:
A registered trademark gives your business Legal protection that in case your trademark has been copied you can sue them for copying it.
Unique Identity:
Customers always remember any singular product or service with the brand name. Hence registering your trademark makes your Company’s identity unique and protect from competitors.
Creation of Intangible Asset:
The trademark can be a valuable asset, in case your brand grows and succeed. Registering a trademark is an intangible asset that can be traded, franchised, distributed, and commercially contracted. It brings benefits to the company or the individual proprietor.
Exclusive Rights:
The owner of a registered trademark will get exclusive rights over the trademark. The same trademark can be applied by the owner for all the products/services that fall under the same business. Having exclusive rights on the product or services also allows the owner to stop any kind of illegal use of the trademarked thing.
Documents required for Trademark Registration Service in Chennai:
While filing for the trademark registration, the documents required to provide are as follows:
- Applicant’s name
- Business type
- Business objectives
- Brand/logo/slogan name
- Registration address
- Signed Form-48
- Identification proof of the signatory
- Address proof of the signatory
- Business proof (depends on the type of business)
- Udyog Aadhar/MSME registration certificate (optional)
Trademark Registration Process- (Trademark Registration Service in Chennai)
Registering the trademark of the brand name is not a difficult task. It requires a few simple steps as explained below and you would have the much-needed legal protection of your brand name registration in India.
- Trademark Search:
Basically, TM Search is crucial and will help you to know if there are any similar trademarks available. Sometimes it can give you a forewarning of the possibility of trademark litigation. This process will help you to save your money later by avoiding dealing with time-consuming TM Litigation.
- Filing Application:
After you are sure about your chosen brand name or logo is unique and not listed in the Trademark Registry India, you can opt for registering the same. The first step is to file a trademark application at the Trademark Registry India. Once the application is filed, an official receipt is immediately issued for future reference. The Application can be filed online.
- Examination:
After a trademark application is filed, the examiner will check for any discrepancies which might take around 12-18 months. The examiner might accept the trademark absolutely, conditionally, or object. If accepted unconditionally, the trademark gets published in the Trademark Journal. If not accepted unconditionally, the condition has to be fulfilled.
If there is any objection, it would be mentioned in the examination report and a month’s time would be given to fulfill the conditions or respond to the objections.
One such response is accepted, the trademark is published in the Trademark Journal. If the response is not accepted, one can request a hearing. If in the hearing, the examiner feels that the trademark should be allowed registration, it proceeds for publication in the Trademark Journal.
Step 4: Publication:
The publication is incorporated in the trademark registration process so that anyone who objects to the registering of the trademark has the opportunity to oppose the same. If there is no opposition after 3-4 months from publication, then the trademark proceeds for registration. In case of any arise opposition; there is a fair hearing and a decision is given by the Registrar.
Step 5: Registration Certificate:
After the publication in Trademark Journal, the application proceeds for trademark registration, a registration certificate under the seal of the Trademark Office is issued.
Step 6: Renewal:
The trademark can be renewed after every 10 years. Hence, your logo or brand name registration can be protected forever. An expired trademark can be renewed through Form TM-13 after 6 months and within one year from the expiration of the last registration of the trademark.
A business can check their status of Trademark in the following official link of the site.