A trademark is a sign used to differentiate one company’s goods and services from another. It could include the products, a combination of colours, design, work, a logo, package and so on. It can also be represented visually. Trademark registration under the Trademark Act of 1999 gives patent rights and a slew of legal rights and benefits to the registered trademark’s owner or holder. The registrar will provide a Trademark Certificate of registration once the trademark has been authorised for registration, the registration will be valid for ten years from the date of application. It can be renewed after this time has passed. The statute allows for the registration of numerous sorts of trademarks. As a result, in this article, we will talk about various trademarks in India.
Benefits of Trademark Registration
- It gives legal protection to the holder of a registered trademark.
- Assists in differentiating its products from other options on the market.
- Creates brand recognition and builds market goodwill and reputation.
- A registered trademark has become a valuable asset for a company.
- The registered trademark boosts a company’s overall value, net value, and credibility within the marketplace.
- Registration of a trademark aids the continuous growth of the business by allowing companies to roll out new items and extend their operations.
Types of Trademark
A trademark is a logo or a collection of letters and numbers that a corporation uses to retain ownership of a word or graphic used to symbolise its goods and services. Service marks, Product marks, Certification marks, Collective marks, Form marks, Pattern marks, and Sound marks are all examples of trademarks that can be registered. However, there are many different types of trademarks, all serve a similar purpose: to let consumers identify products and services that come from a specific service provider or vendor. The numerous types of trademarks are discussed in this article:
1. Product Mark
The product mark is a trademark tied to items or things rather than services, so it is among the most important types of trademarks throughout India. The product mark is only used to authenticate the origin of a product and to differentiate items created and offered by one person from those manufactured and sold by someone else. A trademark is essential for a company because it safeguards the company’s reputation and goodwill.
2. Service Mark
A service mark, like a product mark, is used to designate a service instead of a commodity. The service mark’s principal aim is to differentiate its owners from those who own any other services. Because they represent services, trademark proposals submitted under trademark classes 35-45 can be classified as service marks.
3. Collective Mark
As per Dailyhawker, The collective mark is only used to tell the public about some distinguishing characteristics of a good or service that represents a group. This mark could be used by a group of people to jointly safeguard a product or service. The mark holder could be an association, a public institution, or a Section 8 corporation.
In a collective mark, the goods’ requirements are usually set by the authority who owns the mark. Others connected to the collective are obliged to several criteria when using the trademark in the conduct of trade. Chartered Accountant is a well-known collective mark in India.
4. Certification Mark
A certification mark is just a symbol used by the owner to indicate a product’s material, quality, origin, or other specific details. The primary objective of a certification mark is to highlight a product’s standards and provide buyers with assurance. The certification mark can be used to improve the product’s standard among customers by demonstrating that it has fulfilled quality assurance tests. Typically, certification markings can be seen on packaged goods, gadgets and toys.
5. Shape Mark
Shape Mark is only used to safeguard the form of an item so that customers associate it with a specific manufacturer and then choose to purchase it. Once an item’s shape has been identified as notable, it can be registered. Coca-Cola and Sprite bottles, for example, have a characteristic form that is easily identified with the company.
6. Pattern Marks
Pattern marks are goods with distinct drawn patterns that serve as the product’s distinctive feature. Patterns that do not come out as a distinctive mark are usually eliminated since they are useless. The originality must be demonstrated before it can be registered.
7. Sound Mark
A sound mark is an audio which is connected with a specific company’s good or service. Whenever people hear a sound mark, they immediately recognise the product, service, or program that the audio symbolizes. Audio mnemonics, or sound logos, are more likely to show up at the start or finish of a commercial. In India, the melody for the IPL is perhaps the most recognizable sound mark.
