If you own a business or company, then you must have thought about getting a trademark for your business. If you have already heard of trademarks, you must be aware of the benefits of a registered trademark and the exclusive trademark rights you get.
Not only does it give you a competitive edge and superior brand image in the market, but also shoo away the infringers lurking on your unique brand’s logo or symbol.
What are trademark rights?
In India, trademark rights are granted under the Trademarks Act, 1999. This act was a milestone for giving a new life to the Intellectual property scenario in India as it simplifies the process, and provides punishments for violators.
Here is a quick summary of trademark rights under The Trademarks Act, 1999.
- The act empowers the Indian police to arrest if someone illegally infringes upon someone else’s registered trademark. Moreover, the act also clearly defines the infringement and its scope in terms of the trademark.
- The act simplifies the process of trademark registration by decreasing the number of forms to be filled from 75 to 8. Not just that, the new rules have also significantly made the entire registration process faster through rapid application processing.
- The Trademark Act, of 1999 allows for the registration of 3D marks.
- In order to encourage the online filing of trademarks by companies and individuals, the act has mandated a comparatively lesser filing fees for e-filing.
| Application Filing Fee For Trademark Registration (Under One Class) in India | Physical Filing | e-filing |
| For MSMEs and Startups | INR 5000/- | INR 4,500/- |
| For Companies | INR 10,000/- | INR 9,000/- |
- The new rules have also been promoting the court hearings via video conferencing.
- Registering your trademark under the Trademarks Act, 1999 provides the owner exclusive trademark rights to utilize it for the customers to identify the brand’s goods and services.
- Trademark registration is like a weapon for the owner to avoid any infringers from infringing or even diluting upon the mark.
- The registration of a trademark, according to section 28 of the Act, gives the registered proprietor of the trademark the exclusive right to use the mark in relation to the goods for which the mark is registered, as well as the right to seek relief in respect of the trademark in the manner provided by the Act.
How to Identify Between Registered & Unregistered Marks?
- ™ means it is an unregistered trademark and can be used to market goods.
- ℠ means it is an unregistered service mark used to market services.
- ® means it is a registered mark.
What are the benefits or rights of a trademark holder?
Trademark registration allows or provides you with:
- Proof of ownership and validity of your trademark, this gives you exclusive trademark rights to use your company’s logo.
- Statutory protection under the Trademark Act of 1999 in India
- Aids in deterring others from using the trademark illegally
- Under trademark law, If someone else tries to infringe on your registered trademarked logo, you can take legal action and file a trademark infringement suit.
- When you trademark a logo, you can take legal action to prevent trademark dilution.
- A trademarked logo signifies more authority and market recognition, implying that your products and services are recognized by your target audience.
- Customers remember your brand because of the high authority logo, which helps you establish a loyal customer base.
- If imported items infringe on your registered trademarked logo, you can halt their importation.
The trademark owner gets the exclusive Right To Assign/Transfer the trademark. The process of transferring trademark ownership and rights is trademark assignment. “A trademark transfer is defined as the transfer of an owner’s right, title, and interest in a trademark or brand mark,” according to Section 37 of the Trademark Act of 1999.
| Types of Trademark Transfer in India | Definition & Details | Example |
| Complete assignment of logos | The trademark proprietor gives all the trademark rights to the second party in a complete trademark assignment including the right to any future transfer, royalties, and so on. | Through an agreement, the owner of a firm sells its whole trademark to B. Following that, A has no rights in relation to that company’s trademark. |
| Partial assignment of logos | The transfer of trademark rights and custody is confined to certain items or services in a partial trademark assignment. In this instance, the trademark owner may still be able to make any transfer and collect royalties, among other things. | For example, A, the owner of a stationery company, grants property rights exclusively to the notebooks as a whole but retains ownership of other items. |
| Assignment with goodwill | The trademark owner transfers the rights and price of the trademark in relation to the product he or she sells under this sort of trademark assignment. As a result, the trademark owner is surrendering both the trademark rights and the trademark value. When a trademark is transferred with goodwill, the second party acquires the trademark’s rights and values. The proposed trademark can now be used in connection with the products and services by the second party. | Assume that the owner of the Cadbury brand sells it to A. Cadbury is a chocolate company, thus A will be granted the license to use the Cadbury brand name on chocolates and other things it manufactures. |
| Assignment without goodwill | The owner limits the receiver’s use of a trademark to the items for which he uses it in this sort of assignment. Simply put, the goodwill associated with the owner’s whole in relation to the items previously sold out under such an entire will not be transferred to the second party. This implies that both the sender and the recipient will use the same trademark for distinct items. As a result, the buyer does not inherit the goodwill. | For example, if the AMUL (dairy products) trademark owner transfers the property to a third party without goodwill, the third party has the right to use the trademark for items other than dairy products. |
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