In the today’s era, brands have had a deep impact on people’s lifestyle and choices. They have not only dictated the shopping preferences of the consumers but have sometimes also ended up altering the common nouns for many daily use items. We have often heard people calling any detergent powder as ‘Surf’ or adhesive tape as ‘Scotch tape’ like common words when actually they are the registered trademarks of popular companies. If you are a young entrepreneur, you certainly want your company to become as popular and that people recognize your brand within seconds. Thus brand name registration becomes important for your business. But before you start the applying for trademark online or start looking for a good trademark attorney, let’s brush up your basics.
Understanding basics before going for brand name registration:
It takes years of hard work and consistency to build a brand image that gets embedded in people’s minds. It gradually becomes an asset for the company as people become loyal to the brand and don’t mind paying even a little more to buy products of their favorite brands. Thus, considering the importance of brands, the role of trademark becomes even more important, as consumers need validated identifiers to recognize the brands of their choice. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, ‘a trademark is a sign or word that is capable of distinguishing or differentiating the goods or services of one enterprise from others.’ So as soon as you commence using your company name and logo for commercial purpose, it can be called as a trademark. However, using the trademark extensively doesn’t secure it. It has to be registered in order to enjoy the ultimate benefits.
Boons of logo or brand name registration:
You can apply for trademark online or by filing a physical application. Once registered, your company’s trademark will enjoy various benefits. Getting a trademark registered (which is represented by ®) gives an exclusive right to its owner to use the protected mark for trade. It also provides an edge if any legal dispute takes place related to infringement of the trademark. No other company in the market offering similar products or services can use the same or similar name to carry out its operations. Trademark protects the attributes of a brand from legal and monetary perspective and ensures that no other player in the market knowingly or unknowingly, exploits someone else’s brand image for their own profit.
Brand name registration can be helpful for consumers:
From the point of view of the consumer, the availability of so many options in the market makes it confusing to choose the right product. Thus, consumers assess the quality of any product by the trademark symbol or name it carries. The faith that a customer shows in the trademark is directly proportional to the goodwill and reputation the company has been able to establish in the market over the years. Trademark or brand name registration also keeps a check on the dubious players offering inferior quality products in the market. Such players cannot fool the consumer by selling lesser quality products at high price under the garb of a popular company’s trade name. Activities such as these can easily be detected because of trademark registration.
Quick points that will help in getting your trademark registered:
First and foremost, your mark should be distinct and can be suggestive of the quality or characteristics of the product. For example, the detergent brand- Genteel, is a fabric conditioner. The name somewhere suggests that the detergent is ‘gentle’ on the fabric. Other than this, any meaningless self- created word is best to be used as a trademark online, for example, Kodak- meaningless but distinct. Not only symbols or words but sounds and 3D shapes can also be trademarked. The four-note bell sound of Britannia that most of us can identify within seconds is trademarked and so is the shape of the Coke soft drink bottle.
Trademarks are one of the most valuable intellectual property rights for businesses. The importance of trademark is only going to grow higher and companies need to make their strategies accordingly. If you are still wondering how and when you should go for your trademark registration, Logobar might be the right place for you.
