With changing market trends, there is increasing competitiveness in individuals as well as businesses. This growth has given rise to the requirement of the concept of ‘Trademark’.
Trademark is a phrase, word, design, or symbol which makes it easy to differentiate between the goods or services of one business from others/competitors.
To secure, the interests of businesses, individuals even the consumers, the government of India has laid down some rules and regulations under Trademark Amendment Act, 2013.
Requirements for filing a trademark application
- Name, address, and citizenship of the applicant
- Name of all the partners if the applicant is a partnership firm (specifically mention if a minor is a partner)
- If the applicant is a company, state the name of the state or country of incorporation.
- A list of goods and services for which the trademark is required.
- Soft copy of the mark that has to be registered.
- If the mark has been used in India then specify the date of the first use
- Provide the translation of any Non-English word used in the mark.
- Power of Attorney (POA) has to signed by the applicant and notarization, or legalization is not required.
- Indians have to execute the POA on Rs.100 stamp paper and then sign it.
- It is not necessary to submit POA at the time of filing of an application. It can be presented later, and no additional cost is charged.
Steps for Registration of a Trademark in India
The steps for registering of Trademark are as follows:
- Application for the registration of marks is to be filed with Registrar of Trademark.
- As per the place of the applicant’s business, the application has to be filed at the Branch Office or Head Office of the Trademark Registry Office. (The Trademark Registries in India are in Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.)
- After the filing, they digitalize and formally check the application.
- Then the trademark to be registered is examined to check –
- if it can be distinguished from others
- if it can cause confusion in the minds of people because of the existence of similar mark in the market
- if the registration of such mark has been prohibited by any law for the time being
- All the applications for the registration of the trademark are examined at the head office of Trademark Registry in Mumbai.
- The owner of the business can file the application either in his/her name or the name of the business.
- The applicant should mention the class under which he/she wants his/her product to be defined.
- The acceptance of application depends upon the decision of the registrar as well as the distinctiveness or evidence of use.
- If the application is accepted the registrar publish it in the Trademark Journal (an official gazette employed by the Trademark Registry) that is hosted on the official website of the registry on a weekly basis.
- One can appeal registrar’s decision with the Intellectual Property Appellate Board.
- After acceptance, finally, the applicant has to pay appropriate fees for the registration of a trademark. Relevant Fees for –
- everyone other than start-ups, individuals, and small enterprises are
Physical filing – Rs.10000
E-filing – Rs.9000
- individuals, Start-ups, and small enterprises
Physical filing – Rs.5000
E-filing – Rs.4500
Trademark is a way of ensuring the security of one’s goods or services. It provides an identity to the products which helps the consumer to distinguish between various other commodities and protect it from the attempts of a competitor to create counterfeits.