Intellectual Property Rights
TRADEMARK
A trademark is a recognizable sign, design or expression which distinguishes products or services of a company from others in the market. Trademark is a symbol or word that characterizes your product or service and distinguishes it from other products or services on the market. It makes your customers recognize your product or service. A trademark not only gives the trademark owner the exclusive right to use the mark, but also allows the owner to prevent others from using a similar mark that can be confusing for the general public.
TRADEMARK REGISTRAION PROCESS
To obtain the trademark right one should register their application in their concerned jurisdiction by filing an application for the registration of trademark on Form TM-A along with fees and all the documents, after which an application number will be allotted. Trayambak can assist clients in filing Indian as well as foreign trademark applications and provide end to end solutions in the entire process of Indian and International procedures. When a person claims the rights to a particular mark, he or she is allowed to use “TM” (for a trademark) and “SM” (for a service mark) to designate that the mark is filed as an trademark application. The symbol “®” designates federal registration and can therefore only be used after the Indian patent and trademark office registers the mark, meaning the symbol cannot be used when an application is pending.
TRADEMARK PROSECUTION
Trademark office will issue an examination report after checking all the formalities. If an objection is raised in the report then an appropriate reply is to be filed within 1 month from the date of receipt of examination report and a hearing with the examiner may be called. If the application is still refused, then an appeal can be made to the Intellectual property appellate board. However, in case of no objection in the examination report, trademark is published in the trademark journal for a period of 4 months for general public to raise objection, if any.If general public does not object within 4 months of publication, mark will be registered within some time. However, if it is objected, then a hearing will be called and both the parties have to appear before the court.Highly experienced trademark agents and attorneys prepare responses to office actions, opposition.