The brand name is a very essential part of every business enterprises whether it is small or big because the brand name is the identity of the business and it is very important to protect the brand name and it should be protected only if it is registered with the trademark authority. In India, the trademark registration process is provided under Trademark Act, 1999 and the rules made thereunder.
Brand Name is the name of the business and every owner wants to make their brand name a well-known mark like “ZARA”, “STARBUCKS”, “DOMINOS”, “TATA”, “APPLE”, etc. these all are the most popular brand names. A registered and well-known mark is always making a profit for the business and attract customers.
A logo is an image or picture of the brand of the business which also denotes the brand name of the business like
these images doesn’t need any name they are already well known between the customers.
Trademark Registration is the only way to protect the brand name or logo from its misuse or copy by any other person without any authorization.
Process Of Brand Name Registration.
Step 1 - Trademark Search
A trademark or brand name is the identity of the business and it must be registered under the Trademark Act. The authority will grant the registration certificate only if the brand name is unique and not copied or similar to any other registered or applied mark.
To check whether the name is already registered or not the applicant has to check on the trademarks’ government site. Any person can check the availability of the brand name, the applicant has to enter the proposed name and the class number in which the business activity falls.
Step 2 - Filing Of Trademark Application
The trademark registration process is completely online there is no need to go anywhere, the applicant can get everything done without visiting anywhere. It is always better to apply for brand name registration only if the name is available so that the application can be approved easily by the examiner. In the application form, there are many details that are needed to be filed along with brand name or logo like applicant name, address, contact detail, goods or service description, class, etc.
Step 3 - Examination of Trademark Application
After receiving the application for brand name registration, the examiner will check all the details and the brand name and will decide if it can be approved or not. If the name is available and all the details are correct and according to the law then the examiner will publish it in the journal for a period of 4 months. And if the name is similar or any details are incorrect or wrongly mentioned or for any other reason, the examiner may object to the approval of the application. If any Trademark objection is raised by the examiner the applicant needs to submit the reply against such objection. If the applicant fails to give the reply the examiner will abandon the TM application. So, it is very important to know the status of the trademark and to provide all the required details whenever it is asked by the examiner.
Step 4 - Publication On Trademark Journal
If the application is accepted by the examiner the same will be published in the trademark journal for a period of 4 months. The purpose of this publication is that if any third party has any kind of objection to such trademark, then they can raise their objection to the examiner in this period. And in case if the trademark opposition is not filed by any third party then the examiner will grant the trademark registration certificate.
And in case if any opposition is filed by any party, then the application will go under the status of opposed and in this case, the examiner will conduct the hearing and in the procedure of hearing it will be decided that the mark will be granted to the applicant or not. If the examiner passes his order in favour of the applicant, then a certificate for a registered trademark will be issued to the applicant.
Once the name is registered it is valid for 10 years and after this period a renewal option is there to renew the mark, so if anyone wants to enhance its brand name then a trademark renewal application should be filed after every 10 years so that the status of the registered mark should be maintained and the applicant can be the sole owner of the mark.
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