Trademark Formality Check Fail

Trademark is a brand, trade name or name associated with a service or product of an individual, firm, entity or company. It is a unique mark through which the consumers identify a product or service. It differentiates the product manufactured or service provided by an individual, firm, entity or an entity.

In India, trademarks are regulated under the Trademarks Act, 1999 (‘Act’) and Trade Marks Rules, 2017 (‘Rules’). When a trademark is registered under the Act, it is protected from infringement which means that a third party cannot use the registered trademark for their products or services without authorised permission.

Meaning of Trademark: A trademark is defined under Section 2(m) of the Act as a mark that includes a brand, device, heading, ticket, label, name, word, signature, letter, the shape of goods, numeral, packaging or combination of colours or any such combination. Trademark is a visual symbol or logo used to indicate the source of the products or goods. The symbol or logo can be a word, signature, number, geometrical figure, monogram, a combination of words and numerical, a combination of colours with a logo, or it can even be a sound mark.

Who Can Apply for Trademark Registration?

Individua, partnership firm, trust, society, company and / or any other entity can apply for trademark registration in India. An individual is the owner of a trademark that he/she creates and uses for his/her services or products. A company or entity will be the owner of the trademark when the trademark is used to represent the goods or services of that company.

Procedure for Trademark Registration

Step 1: Trademark search First of all before applying for trademark registration, the owner (applicant) must conduct a trademark search on the online the website of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks. The trademark search is an essential step before applying for registration as the Registrar will reject the application if the proposed trademark is similar or resembles another registered trademark. For conducting trademark search you will require two informations (i) name of the trademark (ii) trademark class under which the product / services of the applicant are covered.

Generally, Examiner of Trademarks issue objections under section 9 and 11 of the Trademark Act. In case same / similar name visually / alphabetically / phonetically does not exist then the Applicant may go ahead and file the application. Else may go ahead with applying the same.