How to Trademark your logo and protect your Brand

Any name, emblem, logo, image, phrase, expression, etc. that a business uses to represent its goods or services is eligible for trademark registration. The use of a trademark helps a business to differentiate its goods from those of competitors in the market and gives customers a way to recognize the goods or services from the mark. A trademark registration appeal is made in India, and if successful, the trademark is given protected status for a predetermined amount of time. If you trademark your logo then, it protects your logo from getting infringed.

You can apply for the Trademark under the following categories:

• The Standard Trademark Application
• Application for several class trademarks
• Application for a Conventional/Priority Trademark (claiming priority from a convention country)

What is the importance of trademarking your Logo?

If you don’t want to trademark your logo, then it’s completely upon you.  But if you don’t trademark your logo then your brand can be infringed by your competitors. It is very important to trademark your logo. Your brand is valued around a million dollars and to safeguard or to protect your brand it is always advisable to trademark your logo. It protects your brand, from being infringed by your competitors. Read more

Let’s elaborate this in a new way with examples:

Suppose you are running a food restaurant and it is running well. Your brand also earned some name in the market and you have a good amount of traffic. Now another person is coming up with a similar food restaurant and using your logo to grow their business and attract traffic from your logo.

How will you feel?

You will not be happy right? Here the trademark plays the role. In the same situation if your logo is trademarked then you could have gone to take legal action against their brand, but if you don't have your logo trademarked then you can't do anything. You will lose your brand value.

Let’s look at the types of Trademark registration, in simple words:

• Creative Trademarks: This is a kind of trademark, where the words have no deeper meaning, where the owner keeps the word just because he likes it. There is no such deep meaning to it. For example, take NIKE, there is no such meaning of NIKE available in the dictionary. The name NIKE is trademarked just because his owner felt to keep it.
• Suggestive Trademarks: This kind of trademark is something that indicates or matches the similarity with the brand. For example, the logo of the jaguar indicates that the car will run at the speed of the leopard.
• Descriptive Trademarks: This kind of trademark characterizes a feature of a product or service, such as its attributes, features, purpose, or function, without making any concrete distinctions. Although a store selling teddy bears could certainly refer to themselves as "cute," Build-A-Bear Workshop is a far more successful mark.
• Generic Trademarks: This kind of trademark is the common name for your products or offerings. There's a very significant possibility that your effort to trademark the word "candle" will be denied if your company manufactures candles. Since the goal of a trademark is to set your brand apart from competitors in the market, consumers would likely become confused if every company producing candles registered the word "candle" under one trademark.

Trademark Registration plays a vital role in identifying the origin and kind of business a brand is operating with. Let’s go through the types of Trademarks available in India:

• Product Mark: It helps to identify the product of a particular brand and this falls under classes 1-34, and these classes typically define product marks as they pertain to tangible commodities.
• Service mark: It identifies the services of a brand, not the physical products. Service Mark helps to differentiate the providers of different services they are providing, to their clients. This kind of mark is under the classes 35-45 according to the Trademarks Act 1999.
• Certification Mark: This mark is used to indicate information about a certain product's origin, composition, quality, or other specific data. Certification marks identify product standards and assure consumers that the product meets standardized quality yardstick.
• Collective Mark: A collective mark states certain characteristics of products or services related to a particular brand. It allows individuals or brands to protect and represent services and goods collectively. The Trademark holder may be an association, an institution, or a Section 8 company.
• Pattern Mark: In this mark, the pattern of the product or brand should be unique and cannot be copied from anywhere.
• Sound Mark: This mark is a different kind of mark that is connected with the sound of certain products and services and also can be heard at the beginning or the ending of any advertisement, for example, the sound of a Vodafone advertisement.
• Shape Mark: It is used to secure a particular shape of a product so that the customer can easily recognize the origin of that particular product.

Let’s look at the documents which are required for registering a trademark logo:

In this step, we will look into the documents that are required for registering a trademark, and the documents that you will have to furnish while registering the trademark:

• Business Type: In this section, you have to specify the kind of business or entity you are having. For example: Partnership, Private Limited Company or Sole proprietorship.
• Applicant’s Name: In this section, you have to file through the name of the individual, company or entity name.
• Business Objectives: Provide a brief description of your business activities and objectives.
• Brand/ Slogan Name: Mention the logo or the slogan that you want to get trademarked.

Process of Registering a Trademark in India:

Now, let's look at the process of Trademark registration, in this process many factors are included, like starting from a Trademark search to getting a Trademark certificate and every process has a different role. We will go through each of the points of trademark registration in brief.

• Trademark Classification:

First, an entity needs to decide under which class they are going to register their trademark and accordingly, they have to categorise that under the NICE classification System. There are a total of 45 classes of goods and services are mentioned.

• Trademark Search:

Second, the entity which is going to register the trademark has to do research regarding the mark they are searching for, is available in the market or not.

• Trademark Application Filing:

The application for Trademark registration is submitted online to the respective intellectual property office, requesting examination and approval of the mark.

• Trademark Fees Payment:

The Entity or the brand going for Trademark registration have to pay a certain amount of fees to the respective authority, and the fees vary from entity to entity.

• Vienna Codification:

The international system known as the Vienna Classification, or Vienna Codification, is used to classify the figurative components of trademarks. The brand Registrar will apply the Vienna classification to the figurative features of the brand following the submission of the trademark registration application.

• Trademark Examination:

This stage includes a review of the trademark by the respective intellectual property Authority to examine its uniqueness and availability. The main objective is to ensure that the mark meets the criteria for distinctiveness, non-descriptiveness, and compliance with other legal formalities. A Trademark Registrar's officer will be tasked with handling the trademark registration application once the Vienna Codification is finished. The officer will create a trademark examination report and evaluate the application for accuracy. The officer may approve the application, permit trademark journal publication, or object to the registration procedure based on the information in this report.

If there are objections, the applicant may confront the Trademark Officer with the issues. The trademark will be authorized for publication in the Trademark Journal if the officer deems the justifications enough.

• Trademark Publication:

Further, the Trademark will be produced for publication and it will be published in the trademark Journal, which is a publicly accessible document. The trademark will appear in the Trademark Journal following acceptance of the application by the Trademark Registrar. Every week, this journal is released with information on every trademark that the Registrar receives. If the public feels that the trademark registration could be detrimental to their interests, they have the right to oppose it. Within ninety days of publication, if no objections are filed, the trademark will be registered in twelve weeks.

• Objection on the Trademark (If Any):

You can get a trademark objection notice if the trademark examiner has concerns about your application. Our professionals can help you prepare a strong response and provide the required paperwork and proof.

We assist you in navigating any oppositions or hearings and keep you updated on the progress of your application. Online Legal India can assist with trademark assignment, renewal, and licensing as well as any other post-registration services you might need after your trademark has been successfully registered.

Are you prepared to register your trademark and safeguard your brand in India? Registering a trademark with Online Legal India is the first step toward protecting your company's identity. You can be confident that your brand is in good hands when you work with Online Legal India. Don't wait any longer; make sure your trademark is legitimate and unique right now. Start using Online Legal India to protect your important intellectual property rights.

• Replying to Objections:

Objections raised during the examination stage are extremely important to make progress in the trademark registration process further. The applicant must respond to the objections within 30 days from the date from which the objection has been raised.

• Trademark Hearing:

If a third party objects to the application, a hearing will be scheduled by a Trademark Hearing Officer. There is an opportunity for both the applicant and the opposition to present their cases. The Trademark Hearing Officer will determine whether to approve or deny the application based on the hearings and supporting documentation.

• Getting Trademark Certificate:

Lastly, if the concerned authority of the trademark registry thinks that the proposed trademark has passed all the said criteria, then they will issue the company or the entity with the Trademark Certificate, from that very time you can start using the Trademark logo with your Company logo or name or anything that you have trademarked.

After going through all these procedures, one question can strike into your mind. I have trademarked my logo-thus all my duties and responsibilities are over. No, all the responsibilities are not over and you have now more things to keep an eye on.

Now, you have to renew your trademark from time to time- to keep the trademark running so that the validity of the said trademark doesn't expire. Now we will look into what is Trademark renewal.

What is Trademark Renewal?

• The trademark registration in India is good for ten years and needs to be renewed after that. The fundamental requirement for trademark renewal in India is that the renewal request must be submitted within six months of the expiration date.
• It is standard procedure for the registrar's office to inform the trademark owner that the registration must be updated within six months of the expiration date to spare the owner the unnecessary hassles associated with submitting the renewal application for the trademark after the deadline.

MSME / Startup/ Individual Application:

• Government prices for the physical maintenance of a single class tag are INR 5,000 and INR 4,500, respectively, while government rates for the electronic renewal of a single class mark are INR 4,500.

Company as Applicant:

The government charges INR 9,000 for the electronic registration of a single-class trademark while INR 10,000 is required to physically complete a single-class application.

If the trademark holder does not react to or update the letter from the Trademark Registrar's Office within the specified timeframe, the mark will be withdrawn from the Trademark Journal.

What is the Procedure of Trademark Renewal in India?

In India, the trademark renewal procedure can be carried out in one of two ways:

• Either by requesting the renewal and amending the trademark along with it, or
• By renewing the trademark registration just.
• A registered proprietor or an officer designated by the registered proprietor of the trademark may submit a renewal application using the TM-12 form. Additionally, it is crucial to keep track of the trademark renewal application, and after it has been submitted, the Registrar must routinely examine its progress before approving the renewal application. The applicant must frequently perform or respond in several time-bound ways to renew the mark.

Know about the renewal process in detail:

• Form TM-12 must be properly completed and submitted by both individuals and businesses for the renewal of a trademark.
• The request for renewal may be submitted by registered trademark owners or an agent designated by an owner to act on their behalf.
• To guarantee that the renewal of a TM application goes out without a hitch or delay, people must enlist the assistance of professionals. Even little mistakes committed during the operation can result in serious security breakdowns and create additional problems. Therefore, it is advised to seek the assistance of legal professionals to make sure your mark is safe and well-protected.
• Companies must submit a renewal application before the 10-year extension period expires to maintain the protection of their trademarks.
• Users must monitor the status of their TM renewal applications up until the Registrar completes processing them. The applicant may need to complete several time-bound actions and answers during the process. Businesses must therefore continue to monitor the status of their application and take the necessary steps as needed.

Conclusion: Even while it can seem straightforward, many business owners often neglect to trademark your logo. To maintain the protection of your logo, companies must make sure that all of their trademarks are properly registered. You may easily retain your brand identification by working with Online Legal India. Our legal professionals will take care of your renewal process and alert you to the upcoming deadlines. The experts of Online Legal India have catered to a lot of clients till now, and most of the clients are happy with the services they get from Online Legal India. It’s high time that you trademark your logo through Online Legal India and protect it from being infringed.