A trademark can be defined as the unique identity that differentiates your company, product or service from the rest. A registered trademark is an intellectual property/intangible asset of your business. This protects the investment you’ve made in building trust and loyalty among your customers.

Registration of a trademark provides the right to sue those who try to copy your trademark and prevent others from using a trademark similar to the one you have registered.

What can you register as a trademark?

Many forms of your brand image can be registered as a trademark. The form you need to examine is what form of your brand seats out to your customers. Select the form to apply for the trademark in India.

1. Name

• Brand Name: You can register the name of an appropriate product as a trademark. Apple’s iPod is a trademark of a product name.
• Work Name: Registering a company name as a trademark is the most familiar direction taken by businesses. Example: Bajaj.
• Person’s Name/Surname: If your name plays a significant role in generating revenue, you can even trademark your name! example: Shahrukh Khan has trademarked his name.
• Abstraction: An abstract form of a company or brand name can also be a trademark. Ex: BMW.

2. Logo/Symbol

It is highly recommended to trademark a logo as it represents your brand. Your customers can remember the logo faster than the name. A great part of a logo trademark is the ‘Swoosh’ by Nike.

3. Tagline

If you have a tagline that shows your brand, You can trademark that too. A tagline helps your customer to understand where they are, For example, KFC ‘It’s Finger Lickin’ Good’.

4. Other Options

• Color Mark: You can also trademark a color or a combo of colors. (Example: Cadbury has trademarked the color Royal Blue)

• Sound Mark: Any Musical notes or sounds can also be trademarked if we can prove that it is original. Nokia has trademarked its tune.

• Scent Mark: Fragrances can also be trademarked.

Why is Trademark Registration Important?

Trademark registration is important and necessary for business because:

• It reflects your unique identity
• It helps you build belief and faith among your customers
• It provides legal protection for your brand identity
• It is an asset in itself
• This secures illegal use of your brand identity.

Trademark Class

There are 45 trademark classes and all goods and services are classified in these classes. You need to be very careful while selecting the classes as it will determine the validity of your trademark for the products/services of your business. In case your business operates in different goods/services falling under different classes, you must ensure that you can apply the trademark online under all the applicable classes.

There are some famous trademark classes in India which are:

• Class 9: it consist computer software and electronics,
• Class 25: Including clothing,
• Class 35: Including business management and advertising, and
• Class 41: Includes education and entertainment.

If you are dealing in these trademark classes, the competition for the trademark may be high. However, this may not matter as long as your mark is unique.

How to Register Trademark in India with Sai Tax World

The online process of trademark registration is more difficult than it appears. There are many processes and government follow-ups involved. Sai Tax World has made it easy for you by breaking it down into three parts and doing most of the work for you. Register a trademark today to protect your company logo, slogan and brand.

Step 1: Trademark Search

Whenever you give us all the information about what you want to trademark and the industry you operate in, Our experts will be in charge of searching the trademark database. This is to know to check if the mark you want to register is available or not.

When you decide on an available trademark, we will move on to Step 2.

Step 2: Class Selection and Document Collection

The next task is to select the appropriate category(s) for your business. Despite this, you do not need to worry much. Our professionals will help you in choosing the right classes to cover all forms of your business. With this, you can start uploading all the required documents (listed below) for trademark registration online in your dashboard.

Step 3: Trademark Application Filing

When you upload all the documents, our team will continue to verify them. Then the trademark application form will be filled and submitted along with the documents, on your behalf. Our team will assure that your application is correct and error free.

We will keep you updated throughout the process We will keep you updated throughout the process and will keep an eye on any information from the Trademark Registry until the registration is complete. Process and track any notifications from the Trademark Registry until the trademark registration is complete.

Congratulations! You can now start using Icons™ as the application has been submitted!

Step 4: Trademark Objection (in some cases)

Sometimes the examiner may can put some questions about your application. This has been sent to you as a Trademark Objection Notice and you have to respond to it within 30 days. Our professionals can art a strong objection response and help you in submitting the correct documents and evidence.

Step 5: Trademark Opposition (in some cases)

There can be a chance for a third party to oppose your application. In that case, you must submit a counter-statement to the Registrar within 2 months explaining why the opposition is not valid. Depending on your response, the Registrar may either dismiss the protest or call for a hearing.

Trademark Objections

In some cases, the trademark examiner may find some problems or issues with the registration of the trademark. These issues can be either filling out wrong trademark application form online, wrong name/description, use of misleading or offensive words, insufficient information on goods or services, or existence of a similar or confusingly similar mark.

When an objection is raised, The status on the register will appear as ‘objected’, following which an expertly prepared response needs to be filed, after analysis of the objection and with any supporting documents and evidence. The objection response is your opportunity to strengthen your claim to the mark and create urgency.

If the response is accepted, the application for brand registration and advertisement in the Trademark Journal will be further processed. If it is not accepted, Or if additional clarification is sought by the examiner, a trademark hearing may be scheduled and will be notified to you by a notice.

This process usually takes 2-4 months from the time the objection is raised for the first time. Once completed, the chances of approval, while not guaranteed, are very high.

Trademark opposition

On the other hand, a trademark opposition is a legal proceeding in which one party attempts to prevent a trademark application from being approved. A trademark application is filed by third parties who feel that your trademark may affect them or their own trademark in some way, in the form of a notice, in writing, with the Trademark Examiner. If the examiner finds any merit in the opposition, they have to send a notice to the applicant, who has to send a counter statement to the Registrar within 2 months.

If the Registrar feels that the counter statement adequately addresses the opposition, they may dismiss the opposition. Alternatively, if the registrar feels that there is more to weigh, he may call for a hearing with both the parties present and present their cases. After a hearing, the registrar will rule on the validity of the application or opposition. An appeal can be made to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board within 3 months of this decision being made public.

Required Documents for Trademark Registration Online In India

Firstly, you have to provide us with the following details:

• Applicant Name
• Business type
• Business objectives
• Brand/logo/slogan name
• Registration address

The required documents are:

• Signed Form-48
• Identification proof of the signatory
• Address proof of the signatory
• Business proof (it depends on the type of business)
• Udyog Aadhar/MSME registration