Trademark Registration

A trademark can be defined as the unique identity that makes your company, product, or service stand out from the rest. A registered trademark is your business’s intellectual property/ intangible asset. It protects the investment made into creating trust and loyalty among your customers.

Registration of trademark 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.

What Can You Register As a Trademark?

Many aspects of your brand image can be registered as a trademark. The aspect you need to consider is which aspect of your brand stands out to your customers. Pick that aspect(s) for registering.

1. Name

a. Product Name: You can register a particular product’s name as a trademark. Apple’s iPod is a product name trademark.

b. Business Name: Registering a company name as a trademark is the most common route businesses take. Ex: Bajaj.

c. 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.

d. 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 logo trademark 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’s ‘It's finger lickin' good’.

4. Other Options

a. Colour Mark: You can trademark a colour or a combination of colours. (Ex: Cadbury has trademarked the colour royal blue)

b. Sound Mark: Musical notes or sounds can be trademarked if we can prove that it's distinctive. Nokia has trademarked its tune.

c. Scent Mark: Even scents can be trademarked.

Why Is Trademark Registration Important?

Trademark registration is important and necessary for a business because:

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 unauthorized usage of your brand’s identity.

Trademark Registration