Common Trademark Issues Faced by Indian Businesses
Intellectual property rights (IPR) are a growing sector in India, and many entrepreneurs are already registering trademarks to safeguard their companies from infringement by third parties with the help of a good trademark lawyer India. The basis for trademark law in India is the Trademark Act, 1999. Applications for trademark registration have dramatically increased in India in the last few years. Apart from that, registering a trademark is becoming more and more complex. Since the process has gotten more complicated, there are a lot of issues faced by Indian businesses which are listed in detail in this article.
Common Trademark Issues Faced by Indian Businesses
- Choosing a trademark without proper research
Sometimes most businesses rush to register a trademark, skipping all the necessary research and considering it to be a formality. However, all of your hard work and time spent in the procedure will be for naught if, after all of your creation and registration, you find out that another company has already registered a trademark that is similar to yours.
- Not knowing the strength of your trademark
It is in your company’s long-term benefit to know the strength of the trademark. Businessmen often ignore this problem, only to find out later that there are a plethora of other companies with names that are virtually identical to theirs—the only differences being the substitution of one or two alphabetic characters. However, since numerous businesses have been using essentially the same trademark, this could mislead your clients and create confusion
- Wrong use of trademark (TM) symbol
The trademark application A trademark issue cannot be the same as or confusingly similar to a currently registered trademark or symbol for which the Registrar is still processing a registration application. Any similarity in form or pronunciation is regarded as comparable. The Registrar takes into account the commodities’ nature, purpose, and channel of trade when assessing the similarity of trademarks used under classifications designated for goods. However, the Registrar considers the nature of services, their purpose, their uses, and regular commercial partnerships when assessing the similarity of trademark applications filed under classes designated for services.
- Inferior brands exploiting your brand with unfair practices
Trademarks have given power to business owners who have little hesitation about using well-known firms’ trademarks to increase their profits as media and the internet have developed. These businesses make an effort to mimic your brand’s methods, creating the impression that the two trademarks belong to the same business. Additionally, they lower your market share by selling their products at lower costs. Watch out for these kinds of brands!
- Failing to register a trademark
Unregistered trademarks are those that have not been registered in accordance with the Act. Although they can be used in conjunction with goods and services, unregistered trademarks are not very well protected by the Act. For a company whose sales and operations are primarily dependent on its trademark, this may be highly damaging.
- Failing to renew trademark
Since trademark renewals are necessary every 10 years and the application for renewal must be filed with the Trademark Office and must be submitted no less than a year prior to the mark’s expiration date. Additionally, within the specified time, the businesses must fill out and submit the application form. Businesses may, however, choose to prolong their protection for a further 10 years, provided that they renew on time. If a person or business doesn’t renew their trademark, the mark will be held accountable for the removal procedure and the holders will need to restore their trademark to maintain its extended protection.
Categories : Trademark Attorney 
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