A Trademark (Trademark Registration) is a special symbol, design, or name that a company puts on its products that cannot be used by any other company. It is a complex and long process that is registered through payment.
In the whole process, sometimes we make mistakes that are hard to change. To avoid these irregular changes, you should avoid these common mistakes to protect your business in the long run. Related
What Kind Of Mistakes You Should Avoid?
Here is the list of mistakes that you do when you are going to take trademark registration online or offline. So all these listest profiles explain we will below. Let’s check out this.
- Don’t Violate Others’ Trademark
- Don’t Use Generic Words as Your Trademark
- Maintaining the Ownership
- Usage of the Trademark
Don’t Violate Others’ Trademark
The most important thing while registering for your trademark is to check whether you haven’t violated anyone’s rights. This may cause harm to your business reputation and the original trademark owner can file a lawsuit against you to pay the damages that occurred to them.
In a recent case, where Adidas filed a lawsuit against Forever 21 alleging that their three-striped design products are similar to the products in which they have invested millions of money. To avoid this happening, you can check the availability of the name of your trademark on ipindiaonline.gov.in.
Don’t Use Generic Words as Your Trademark
Generic words are not protected by trademark law anywhere in India which is the biggest limitation for your business. It is usually ignored by many business owners as it affects the reputation of your business.
The high court has ruled that common and simple English words cannot be used as trademarks. By using a generic word, it loses the value of the particular product or service and the advertising becomes harder to be done.
Maintaining the Ownership
You need to take proper care of your trademark and use it only for the purpose it was registered for your business. Make sure that you keep a check on the expiry date and renewal of it. If in any way the owner fails to recognize the expiry date and does not file an application for the renewal, he may lose all the rights given to him during the registration.
Usage of the Trademark
After the registration of the trademark for your business, make sure that you use it properly. It is only valid for 10 years and if you do not use it for the first five years, it can be canceled at any given point. To avoid this use your trademark as a proper adjective as per the guidelines and highlight it to be seen by others.
Types of Trademarks
Here is an available list of trademarks and it will help you when you are going to get trademark registration in India. But before you should know how many types of trademark registration you can do for your startup growth protection.
1. Generic Trademark
A generic trademark is a type of mark in which it is identified with the type of product or service in people’s minds. For example, shoes or cold drinks are generic trademarks as they qualify the simple terms of it. It is identified through the product and not for a particular brand.
2. Suggestive Trademark
A suggestive trademark is a type of mark that is identified through the nature and the quality of the product or service. For example, Netflix and Microsoft are known for their service and the mere quality they provide through their products.
3. Arbitrary Trademark
Arbitrary trademarks are the type of marks that are far way different than their actual product or service. It gives a different meaning to their brand. For example, Apple and Camel are some examples of this as they are unique and different compared to the type of service they provide to the people.
4. Fanciful Trademarks
Fanciful trademarks are the type of marks that are adopted and have a new meaning behind them. They are made to create a separate space specifically for the audience they are aiming for. For example, Adidas and Lexus are some great examples of this.
Advantages Of Trademark Registration India
- Trademark gives us the right to distinguish our product or service from our competitors.
- It protects our brand from exploiting our reputation.
- A trademark is valid for 10 years.
- It is not a complex and long process to follow.
- It prevents our customers from confusion in the marketplace.
