How to Check if Trademark is Available?

Trademark Registration helps the customers to differentiate between two brands. A trademark is a unique and distinctive word, symbol, logo, or tagline that defines a brand. It protects a brand from being infringed on by competitors. Trademark registration is very crucial for a brand to protect its intellectual property. While registering the trademark the initial step is to check the trademark availability. In this blog, we will discuss every aspect of Trademark availability.

What are the elements that you can Trademark legally?

Some elements can be trademarked legally:

• Name: There can be some name that can be registered as a trademark for a brand.
• Logo: There are logos that can be registered as trademarked by a brand, for example, the tick sign of the brand NIKE.
• Word: A word can also be trademarked for a brand, for example, HUL which denotes quality and personality.
• Images: Images can also be a trademark for a brand. An image also represents a brand for example the triangle in the logo of Addidas.

Now let's see who can apply for Trademark registration.

• Startups 
• Private Limited Companies
• LLP
• Partnership Firm
• NGOs 

What are the steps that should be taken while checking Trademark availability?

• The applicant has to sign in to the Trademark Registration website
• The applicant should click the trademarks tab after selecting the public search
• Vienna Code and Wordmark are the criteria that are accessible.
• After providing all the information, the applicant must click on the search button.
• The applicant will able to see the abandoned, registered and objected trademarks in the panel. The applicant can use that list to choose and check the availability of their desired trademark.

Now let’s see the tools through which you can know about the availability of the trademark:

The tools that will help you to know the trademark availability:

Detail of the Class: In this section, the detailing will be based on class to see to which class a particular service belongs. 

Prohibitory Marks: It provides a list which includes all the trademarks that cannot be registered. If any applicant uses those words or marks for registering their trademark, the applicant can face rejection. This is one of the most appropriate tools for the applicant to check whether their trademarks are available or not as it protects the application for trademark registration from being rejected by Intellectual Property India.

Notable Marks: In this section, the marks that are included are the marks that have a notable presence within the market as determined by several authorities.

The steps that an applicant can follow while conducting a Trademark search:

• Visit the website for Trademark registry: https://ipindia.gov.in/

• Tap on the "Trademarks" tab that appears on the homepage.
• Click on the “related links”
• Choose the option of “Public Search”
• Then choose the search type “Vienna Code”, “Wordmark” and “Phonetics”
• Choose the concerned parameter to search like "Phonetical", "Contains"
• Enter the Trademark name that you have proposed for registration
• Enter the concerned class number into the search box
• Tap on the “Search” button

Now let’s see what are the documents required for registering Trademark in India:

• The name of the applicant
• The type of business
• Goals of a business/brand
• Brand/slogan/logo name
• Address in which it will be registered 
• Duly Signed FORM-48
• Address proof
• Any ID proof of the authorized signatory
• Proof of business 
• MSME or UDYOG Registration Certificate (If Any)

What are the advantages of conducting a Trademark Search?

• Trademark search helps to avoid the chance of Trademark duplicity/infringement by making sure that the concerned mark is not unique or not registered to date.
• The search also helps to make sure that the mark is unique and classified properly.
• The aim of conducting a trademark search is to minimize the chances of refusal and rejection of a trademark application and avoid any conflict that may come up during the process of registration. If the applicant doesn't conduct any trademark search, the risk of rejection of the application maximizes and it can also enhance hefty legal costs and legal obligations. 
• Trademark search also helps the applicants to make sure that his/her business or brand is unique and distinct from others within the market. It is crucial to build brand reputation and reliability. It also makes it easy for the customers to identify the brand and its products and services at first instance. 

How should an applicant conduct a Trademark search? 

Use Database for Indian Trademark:

The initial step while checking trademark availability is to use the government’s trademark database. The applicant can search for a trademark on the CGPDTM (Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks) website. The applicant can search their trademarks by entering the phrases and keywords that are associated with your concerned Trademark. The applicant can filter their search results based on the kind of trademark, trademark class and matching level.

Conduct a Complete Web Search: The database for Indian Trademark is a very good and impactful resource, but it is also essential for the applicant to conduct a search within and across the web which includes marketplace / online directories and social media platforms to have a look whether there is any similar mark is available or not. The applicant should look into both registered and unregistered trademarks, to avoid a conflict in further process.

Take expert assistance: A Trademark is a very crucial and impactful asset for a brand so, it's always highly advisable to take an expert's assistance while registering a Trademark. Suppose while registering a trademark you face some issues, the expert you have engaged can guide you throughout the registration process. If you can't find an expert for yourself, you should connect to Online Legal India as they have vastly experienced experts and have served a lot of clients now successfully. You can connect with us by visiting their website at onlinelegalindia.com.

Conclusion: Trademarks are important for every kind of business and every business owner should give priority to Trademark registration in connection to protect their intellectual property from infringement. Trademark protects a million dollar brand no one should neglect the importance of Trademark registration and for registering the trademark the trademark availability search is the initial step to start with the registration process. If you think that you can’t handle the process on your own, do feel free to contact Online Legal India as they have vastly experienced experts and catered to a lot of clients now successfully. Online Legal India is also ranked among the top online legal service providers across the web.