Registering a trademark is very important for every kind of business. Remember one thing Precaution is better than cure. Trademark registration protects and safeguards your brand from being infringed. Trademark helps differentiate your brand from others and makes it more easily identifiable to your customers/consumers. If you don't have a trademark, your competitor can easily copy your brand logo or mark- in that case, you will have nothing to do. If you have a trademark and if anyone or any brand uses your logo or mark without your prior permission, you can sue that brand/brand owner before the court of law. In this blog, we will discuss how to do trademark registration in India.

First, let's see who can apply for the Trademark registration.

• Any Individual
• Any Start-up
• A Limited Liability Partnership
• A Partnership firm
• A Non-Profit-organization
• A Private Limited Company

Documents required to do Trademark registration:

Sole Proprietorship and Individuals:

• A copy of the logo (Black and White) that you want to register.
• Signed FORM-48, an applicant can engage a lawyer or an attorney to file a trademark application.
• Proof of Identity
• Address proof of the business

Partnership Firm or LLP Firm:

The documents required for an LLP or Partnership firm are:

• FORM-48 duly signed
• Copy of the logo (optional)
• The Udyog Aadhar registration Certificate
• Deed of partnership or deed of company registration or incorporation
• Proof of signatory authority
• Address proof of the authorized signatory.

Other Applicants:

• Photocopy of the logo
• FORM-48 duly signed
• Incorporation certificate or partnership deed
• Proof of signatory authority
• Address proof of the signatory authority.

Now let's see some of the common documents that are required for any kind of business to enroll them under the Trademark registry.

Proof of the power of an agent: Every trademark registration is applied and handled by an attorney or a lawyer. In this case, the power of authorization is required of an agent.

Trademark Representation graphically: As Trademark attracts customers and makes it easily identifiable to the customers, it is best to choose such a mark that can be represented graphically. 

Before stepping into the trademark registration process, it is very crucial to check the documents very minutely. Take your time and file the trademark application but if there is any mistake while filing, the process will get lengthy and it will become difficult to proceed further. If a trademark application has any discrepancies it can lead to refusal or even rejection as well.  

So, without wasting any further time let’s get into our topic directly. 

There are a few steps and processes involved in registering a trademark in India. Know how to do trademark registration?

Choose your Mark: The initial step of Trademark registration is that you have to choose a mark that you want to register. The mark should be unique and distinctive from others. If your mark is similar, you cannot register that mark and it will get rejected. So, it’s better to have a unique mark. There are 45 classes under which you can trademark your brand. Your mark should be simple but not generic.

Check Trademark Availability: After you choose your mark, the next step is checking the availability of the mark. You have to conduct a thorough trademark search to see whether the mark is available or not that you want to register. If the mark is not available during the check, you cannot register that mark. Mark, not available means "any similar mark is already registered under the Trademarks Act 1999". 

Trademark Application Filing: This is one of the vital steps in the process of Trademark registration, you have to apply for trademark registration to the concerned trademark registry office. You can apply both offline and online methods, but you should go for the online process as the process is simple, cost-effective and fast. If you go for the offline process it will take much more time and the trademark offices are not available everywhere. The trademark offices are only in Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi and Ahmedabad. So, it might be hectic for you to avail of the physical filling of the trademark registration application. 

Scrutiny of the Application: After you submit the trademark registration application, the concerned trademark registrar will examine your application thoroughly. If he/she finds everything is okay then it will proceed further. If the registrar finds any discrepancies in your application, he/she will call you for clarification of the discrepancies that occurred, then it will proceed further to the satisfaction of the registrar. 

Trademark Publication: After the scrutiny of the process, your application will be sent for publication and your application will published in the trademark journal for opposition. In this process, any third party can object to your application if they think that your application is infringing their intellectual property. If any objection arises the registrar will call both the parties to give their justification on the ground of the objection. Then both parties have to be present before the concerned trademark registrar with proper evidence and justifications. 

After listening to both the parties the trademark registrar will decide and pass any necessary order/orders.

Trademark Registration and Certificate: After the successful completion of the above-mentioned process your trademark will be registered and you will be issued with a paper stating that your mark is successfully registered from that point onwards, you can start using the "R" symbol along with your brand.  

Now, let’s see if you should go for Trademark Registration:

Section 2(zb) of the Trademarks Act 1999, defines a trademark as a distinguisher that distinguishes between two brands and helps the customers to identify services and products from other competitors in the market. A trademark can be a symbol, logo, tagline, or word that is related to a relevant brand or business. Trademark registration can be done by any individual, business, or company, and a trademark makes their brand and business reliable and trustworthy among their customers.

Advantages of having a Trademark registration in India:

There are several advantages of trademark registration, let’s see some of them:

Legal Protection: The Trademark owner enjoys legal protection against infringement. Suppose anyone uses your logo without your prior permission, you can sue that brand or the owner before the court of law. No one has the right to use your registered mark for their brand without your permission.

Enhance Brand Reputation: Having a trademark registration enhances a brand's reputation to the next level. Whenever a customer sees that the brand is registered, it gives them a feel of authenticity. It also helps a brand to make a unique identity within the consumer's mind.

Helps in Trust building: Trademark registration grows trust between the competitors and the consumers. Consumers start believing the brand and its products and services. 

Business Expansion: Trademark registration acts as a tool for expanding your businesses. It provides a strong security to the brand that builds an original image within the market. It also leads to expanding the future expertise of the brand so that it starts attracting new consumers. 

Financial benefits: Trademark registration provides enormous financial stability to a business. It protects the intellectual property of the brand and helps the brand to stand stronger and unique in the market. This helps the brand to secure a profitable stand within the market and among the competitors which leads to financial success.

Conclusion: Trademark registration protects a brand for a lifetime by securing its intellectual property but the owner has to renew their trademark once after 10 years of registration to enjoy the benefits of it for an indefinite period. Whenever you engage yourself in the process of trademark registration just keep one thing in mind it needs a lot of documents to register successfully and you cannot afford to make a mistake while filing it. Trademark registration involves a lot of paper works and if you think it's difficult for you to follow that and not sure about how to do trademark registration, you should take an expert's assistance for a seamless and hassle-free trademark registration. If you are unable to find an expert by yourself, you should connect to Online Legal India for their expert assistance. Online Legal India is one of the top-ranked online legal service providers across the nation.