The creation of the brand takes a lot of time, hard work and money. It can be said to the most valuable asset of business since people get to know of the business from the brand. Thus businesses need to register their brand. This process is known as trademark registration.
Trademark registration can be done either by businesses themselves by following all the rules and regulations and applying in the given formats or with the help of a service provider. These service providers generally deal with everything starting from opc incorporation to trademark registration. However, care should be taken to ensure that the service provider is involved in the actual process of trademark registration and not just in filing for the same. Obtaining a trademark registration is much more than just a form filling job.
Before understanding the steps involved it is very important to understand the cost involved in the same. The official trademark registration cost in india is around INR4500 both for individuals and SMEs. For all the rest it is INR9000. The service provider costs start from INR1999 and depending on the services provided this cost changes accordingly. However, care should be taken in the choice of the service provider. Experience, service quality and customer reviews should be the only deciding criteria and they should be hired only if the business owners are satisfied with their credentials.
Trademark registration: the steps involved
Just as there are certain predefined steps involved in opc incorporation, so also trademark registration is done based on certain predefined steps as required by the concerned statutory and regulatory bodies. They involve:
- Mark selection,
- Service or goods classification,
- Searching the records in the trademark office,
- Filling up the application form and submitting the same along with the required trademark registration cost in india,
- Responding to objections, if any, as laid by the trademark registration office,
- Advertising in the trademark journal,
- Handling of any opposition raised by third parties,
- The final registration and
- Subsequent maintenance and renewal of the trademark registration.
Changing a trademark after it gets registered is not an easy process. Hence the selection of the trademark should be done after careful deliberation and brainstorming sessions. The name chosen also has to be crosschecked with the trademarks database so that there is no duplication. Searching on the internet for the same is another good option to ensure its uniqueness and also to prevent any statutory hassles from cropping up later on.
Objections that get raised after filing the trademark registration form need to be addressed within a month of being raised. This will help save money as well as time in getting the trademark registration completed.
Placing an advertisement in the trademark journal is mandatory to ensure that third party objections that get raised are immediately resolved so that the trademark registration can take place without any further delay. Opposition proceedings generally take up a lot of time and are also very costly. Thus they should be avoided, if possible.
Trademark registration is granted after 4 months from when the advertisement is placed. The validity of this registration is 10years and businesses can start using the registered trademark symbol as soon as the registration is done.
