A trademark is a unique identity that makes your company, product, or service stand out from the rest. Once you get your trade mark registration done with the government; it becomes your intellectual property/ intangible asset. Trademark registration in India protects the investment made into creating trust and loyalty among your customers.

Trademark registration in India provides the right to sue against others who try to copy your trademark and prevents others from using a similar trademark to the one registered by you.

By trademarking your company’s name, you are protecting the brand, its reputation, and your ideas, all of which you undoubtedly invested a great deal of blood, sweat, and tear working on and while the trademarking process itself will take time in all areas considered, nothing would be worse than not protecting your brand and potentially be faced with an infringement lawsuit from a larger company.

• It showcases your unique identity
• It helps you build trust and loyalty among your customers
• It offers legal protection for your brand’s identity
• It is an asset in itself
• It prevents unauthorised usage of your brand’s identity.

In the Trademark Registration form, the person whose name is mentioned as the applicant will be declared as the owner of the trademark once the trademark is successfully registered. The following assessee can apply for the trade mark registration

• An individual (Person)
• Joint Owners
• Proprietorship Firm
• Partnership Firm
• Limited Liability Partnership
• Indian Company
• Foreign Company
• Trust or Society

Trademarks fall under the umbrella of intellectual property rights, which are further divided into many categories. Examples of several trademark types are provided below:

1. Name
   • Product Name: You can register a particular product’s name as a trademark. Apple’s iPod is a product name trademark.
   • Business Name: Registering a company name as a trademark is the most common route businesses take. Ex: Bajaj.
   • Person’s Name/Surname: If your name plays an important part in generating revenue, then you can even trademark your name! Ex: Shah Rukh Khan has trademarked his name.
   • Abbreviations: Abbreviations of a company or brand name can also be a trademark. Ex: BMW.
2. Logo/Symbol
   It is highly recommended to trademark a logo because it visually represents your brand. Your customers can recollect a logo faster than a name. A great example of a brand registration in India is the ‘swoosh’ of Nike.
3. Tagline
   If you have a tagline for your brand, you can go ahead and trademark that as well. A tagline tells your customers what you stand for as a business. For example, KFC ‘It’s finger lickin’ good’.
4. Other Options
   • Colour Mark: You can register a trademark online for a colour or a combination of colours. (Ex: Cadbury has trademarked the colour royal blue)
   • Sound Mark: Musical notes or sounds can be trademarked via online trademark registration if we can prove that it’s distinctive. Nokia has trademarked its tune.
   • Scent Mark: Even scents can be trademarked in online trademark registration.

1. For New Application
   Regular Fee for application of a trademark by an individual is Rs.4500.00. Regular Fee for Company / LLP / Partnership / other applicants are Rs.9000.00.If the Company / LLP / Partnership are a Start-up / Small Enterprise, then the Filing fee will be Rs.4500.00 only.
2. Renewal Cost
   Regular Fee for renewal application of trademark registration is Rs.9000/-. Additional Rs.4500/- Payable as surcharge in case application of renewal is done within 6 months after expiry of registration.

Once a trade mark application is filed with the Trade Mark office, the applicant can begin using the TM symbol. If the trademark is registered, the applicant can use the R symbol. All registered trademarks are valid for a period of 10 years from the date of application. At the end of its validity, a trade mark can be renewed easily by paying the Government fee for registration.