Meaning of the Trademark
A trademark is a unique mark or sign representing you, your company,
your products or the services that you provide and distinctive in nature, which
distinguishes it from one firm to another and thus building reputation. You can
describe your business in a number of ways; it can be in your company name,
brand name, label, product name, logo, tagline, and domain names. It is
necessary that all the intellectual property rights of your company, including
trademarks, should be established and secured as IPR is the oil of the 21st
century.
Types
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Word mark
The
most common type of mark is a word or other grouping of letters/alphabets.
Also referred to as the "standard character" mark, no claim to any
shape or color or font size. Examples are Banana for a clothing brand or
Pegasus for a shoe brand, etc. It is not necessary for the word to have any
meaning or logo. |
Device mark
Device
marks are generally referred to as Logos, Pictures of Drawings, Combinations
of Pictures and words or Drawings; they include any label, sticker, monogram,
logo or geometric figure other than a word mark.
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Collective mark
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Certification mark
The certification mark provides consistency, while
the collective mark provides both quality and source. The owner may register
the certification mark, while the group of individuals may register the
collective mark. Examples: ISO mark, ISI, BIS. |
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Sound mark
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Colour mark |
Shape mark |
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Sound
marks are a non-conventional trademark and can be registered in India, sound
features are used as an indicator for the origin of products or services. The
important ingredient is the appearance in the sound of factual
distinctiveness capable of generating an immediate recall value for the
product or service. Some of the registered sound marks in India are as
follows:
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Yahoo yodeling (4350871) ·
National Stock Exchange Theme Song (2152243) |
A colour
trade mark is a non-conventional trade mark where at least one colour is used
to perform the trade mark function of identifying the commercial origin of
products or services. The particular colour or combination of colour is
recognized as a trademark if it is established that the colour(s) function as
a unique identifying mark to identify the origin of goods or services. A colour
mark in India can be registered as the consumers can link it directly with
the product, for example; white and red for Colgate.
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The shape marks have
three-dimensional marks or shapes which
are capable of distinguishing goods and
services of one trader from another, which have been registered as trademarks. A shape mark is also
known as shape trademarks. Such a shape must have the
capability of finding goods sold under the trademark.
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Documents
required
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Process
· PUBLIC SEARCH · APPLICATION FILING · EXAMINATION REPLY · HEARING · JOURNAL
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