How to Trademark a Business Name | 8 Steps to Protect your Brand

 

The most important thing for protecting your brand name is applying for trademark. But, how to trademark a business name?

Designs, photos, signs, and even expressions that defines your business can be trademarked.. It's crucial since it sets your products apart from the competitors. 

It might be linked to your company or product. Trademarks are intellectual property, which means they are protected from infringement. The Trademark Act 1999 protects trademarks and their rights.

To obtain trademark protection, one must first register the trademark. It's crucial to register your trademark since it stops others from copying it and using it to misrepresent other products.

 

8 Steps to File a Trademark Application

The trademark registry is in charge of trademark registration. There are several procedures to take while applying for trademark registration online.

 

Step 1: Search the internet for a "unique" brand name.

This is simply the quickest and most effective technique for how to trademark a business name. It can help any beginner to obtain a memorable, trendy, and intriguing company name. Choosing a weird and quirky brand name is a smart option because most generic names are already in use. 

Furthermore, deciding on a name necessitates a quick research procedure to verify that you are not selecting a brand name that is already in use. 

The best aspect is that you may develop a distinctive brand name for yourself by inventing or coining some words from a combination of generic phrases.

 

Step 2: Putting up a trademark application

For online trademark registration, the following supporting papers must be submitted with the application:-

• Business Registration Evidence: An identification proof of the company's directors and an address proof must be supplied based on your registered business (for example, sole proprietorship and so on). In the instance of a sole proprietorship, the proprietor's id proof, such as a PAN or Aadhar card, could be submitted. In the case of businesses, the address evidence of the business must be presented.
• An electronic copy of the trademark.
• The proposed mark's proof of claim (if applicable) can be utilised in another nation.
• The applicant must sign a power of attorney.

 

Step 3: Submitting a trademark registration application

The registration application can be filed in two ways: manually or electronically (form TM-A). 

If you select manual filing,' you must personally transport and hand over your registration application to the Registrar Office of Trade Marks in major Indian cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Chennai. 

After then, you must wait at least 15 to 20 days to obtain the acknowledgement of receipt. 

However, if you use an electronic filing system, you will obtain your receipt of recognition on the government website very immediately. 

You can use your Trademark (TM) symbol beside your brand name once you receive your recognition!

 

Step 4: Examining the brand name application process

After you submit your application, the Registrar of Trademarks will review it to see if you followed all of the criteria and that your brand name is legal. 

Furthermore, the registration should not be similar to or identical to any existing or pending brands. 

It is why we recommend that you create a unique brand name!

 

Step 5: Brand publication in the Indian Trade Mark Journals

The Registrar of Trademarks will publish your brand name in the Indian trademark journal following the examination procedure. 

It is the most significant element of the trademark registration, and no opposition should be filed within three months of the date of publication, i.e. 90 days (or 120 days in some situations). 

The Registrar of Trademarks will proceed to issue the Trademark Registration Certificate if there is no opposition.

 

Step 6: Opposition to a Trademark

If a third party files an opposition within three months of the trademark publication in the trademarks journal, the Registrar of Trademarks will send you a copy of the opposition notice. 

Within months, you must respond to the opposition notice by filing a counter-statement. 

The trademark application will be regarded as abandoned and rejected if the counter statement is not submitted within two months.

If no opposition files within three months, this procedure will not apply to you, and your brand name will be accepted for the issue of a Trademark Registration Certificate.

 

Step 7: Trademark Opposition Hearing

If there is no trademark opposition, this procedure will not apply to you.

If a third party opposes your trademark registration and you respond within two months, the Registrar of Trademarks will send a copy of your counter-statement to the third party opposing trademark registration.

You and the third party must produce evidence in support of your claims. Following the submission of evidence, the Registrar will hold a hearing for you and the third party. 

The Registrar will issue an order accepting or rejecting the trademark application after hearing both parties and examining the facts. 

If the Registrar of Trademarks accepts your application, he will begin the process of issuing your trademark.

 

Step 8: Issuance of the Trademark Registration Certificate

If no objection files within the 90 days, the Registrar will accept your trademark application.

Wow! And the Registrar will issue the Registration Certificate with the Trademark Registry seal, which means you have completed trademark registration online.

You can use the registered trademark symbol (®) with your brand name immediately after receiving your certificate.

As a result of this blog article, we believe that even a novice can grasp how to trademark a business name and properly register it.

 

Registering a Trademark

By trademarking your company's name, you're safeguarding the brand, its reputation, and your ideas. All of which you've surely spent a lot of sweat and tears for how to Trademark a Business Name.

While the trademarking procedure will take time in all regions, there is nothing worse than not protecting your brand. 

The process of registering a brand trademark in India is now simple and straightforward. Allowing you to trademark any of the following items, or even a combination of them:

- A letter, a word, a number, a phrase, graphics, a logo, a sound mark, or a combination of colours.

 

The Trademark Office

The trademark registry currently serves as the Act's operational or functional body. 

It enacts all of India's trademark laws and regulations.

The trademark registry's headquarters are in Mumbai, with branch offices in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai, and Kolkata. A trademark is registered under the Trademark Act of 1999, and then it registers with the Trademark Registry. Before registering a mark, the registration will verify to see if it fits all of the Act's requirements.

 

Who Can File a Trademark Application?

Once the trademark successfully registers, the person whose name is as the applicant on the Brand Registration form will be the owner of the trademark. Any individual, corporation, or limited liability partnership (LLP) can file an application for trademark registration.

 

Conclusion

Trademarks let people recognise a company and its value in a single glance, such as Nike's tick sign emblem or Puma's jumping wildcat logo.

Unlike patents, trademarks do not have a set length of validity. Trademark registrations expire after 10 years, but trademarks can renew for another 10 years. 

This process can repeat indefinitely. Meaning the trademark will not expire and will remain protected under the Act as long as you keep renewing it.