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Trademark Registration
In today's extremely competitive market scenario, elements that offer a unique identity to your business like your name, logos, brand names, taglines etc are extremely important in helping you create a place on the market and in the minds of your customers. And it is necessary to register a trademark to protect these elements from misuse or use by other similar businesses.
Let us now understand exactly 'what is a trademark'. Your trademark is any element like the name, logo or symbol that you have chosen to register as a trademark. By registering a trademark, you get complete and legal ownership of the element you have registered. For instance, the name 'coca cola' with its particular stylized font is a registered trademark of the Coca Cola Company. Trade marking essentially distinguishes goods and products of one company from another.
Benefits of Trade marking
There are a number of benefits the business has when you register a trademark. Most importantly, trade marking offers you a degree of protection against someone else using your trademark. For instance, you may have carried out an expensive and effective promotional campaign. If you do not have trade marking protection, there is no legal avenue for you to stop unscrupulous individuals from benefitting from your efforts by using your name. Essentially, what is a trademark is that it is a means that gives you the authority to strongly prevent any misuse of unauthorized usage of your name.
Registering a trademark gives you full ownership of the name and you can invest freely in brand building activities to create the desired perception of the trademark. This proves advantageous because customers then come to associate that trademark with positive connotations like 'fastest', 'best quality', 'most value for money' etc. As a result, when you launch a new product, the customers are favorably inclined towards it because it carries the familiar trademark.
When you register a trademark, you also create an avenue for generating revenue. For instance, if a company wants to use your name for distributing certain products, they have to pay a certain royalty to you. At times, it is possible that another business or individual may make a handsome offer to buy the trademark from you, offering you potential to earn money.
How to Register a Trademark
The first step to register a trademark is to ensure that the name has not already been registered by someone else. The last thing you want is to discover that you have caused a trade marking infringement, particularly after you have gone through the process and even initiated some brand building exercises. The legal hassles aside, the costs and efforts of reestablishing the brand identity would be nightmarish.
Once the name has been clearly established to be available, the next step to register a trade mark is to make an application for the same with the relevant authority. The application form requires you to fill in details about your organization, products and services etc. The application is then processed and the trademark approved. This completes the trade marking process and you are now the legal owner of the trademark.
It is recommended to avail the services of expert trade marking firms when you are looking to register a trademark. They handle everything in a professional manner right from guaranteeing that the trademark is not already registered and making the application and all the necessary processes and follow ups till the final approval arrives.
MBA and Co offers services to organizations to register a trademark. The company also offers opportunities for trade marking professionals to provide services to top organizations across the world.
