Five Legal Ways To Protect Your Brand In Social Media Platforms

The brands, trademark, and logo of the company serve to gain visibility and credibility among the targeted consumers of the market. The social media presence brings more awareness and credibility while attracting the customers and comes up with some shortcomings too. Such drawbacks are addressed and remedied if the following legal issues are taken care of by the entrepreneurs.

Here are five elements your brand must have in its social media page:

     1. Unique Brand Name.

Your brand name must be unique and stand apart, but it may not be as simple as it may sound. A coined brand name will make a lot of difference in the market.

The name ‘Swiggy’ means ‘happy’ in Sanskrit, and a food delivery app gives a strong impact for their customers to understand the kind of service they would get. Its ease of pronunciation makes it possible for the word of mouth element, which is vital for a business to grow.

Make sure your brand name is easy to saw and simple to understand. It will help you build a stronger foundation for your social platform. More importantly, it is not copied or “inspired” from any existing famous trademarks or brands. Such imitation would invite legal issues from the original brand owners. We have seen some companies coining brand inspired from the Facebook, Flipkart, WhatsApp, etc., comes with the brand’s such facebook for cosmetic products, Flipkart for game applications, Whatchat for food products but ended up in facing cease and desist notice and litigations from the brand giants through the rival business is entirely different. You must do a trademark search in India and ensure no similar or identical brands used/registered before launching a new brand in the market.

Remember: Unique brands will take time to reach the customers but lasts forever in their minds. 

     2. Brand Registration in India

Brand registration is as necessary as having a unique brand. If your brand is unique, then the next thing you should do is to own it. You should immediately contact your trademark consultant for brand registration and file it even if you have not launched the brand yet. As you may know, if you want to sell your product in e-commerce sites like Amazon, Flipkart, etc., then you must apply and register your trademark, brand, and logo to prevent your competitor from imitating your brand in e-commerce sites.

     3. Use of TM or R symbol in it

The symbols of TM or R represents that the brand name is applied or registered; it gives you the warning to copycats who might attempt to misuse the name and fame of your brand. Trademarking your name will provide you with legal protection and shoo away the imbibers of your brand name and logo. You must also note that you can start using the symbol TM once your brand applied in the trademark office, but you should the symbol R only if the brand is registered.

     4. Brand Monitoring 

You have done great by coining a unique brand, and congratulations on getting it registered as you are very well aware that creating a brand identity and value attracts not only the customers but also the copycats. So, consistent brand monitoring is quintessential for any brand owner to ensure that the fake products and brands do not misdirect the portion of their customer base. You can get the help from your trademark attorney to monitor and report if any third party starts to imitate your brand in social media or any other platform

     5. Legal Actions forInfringement of Trademark and Brand Name

You will require to take legal actions if someone is copying your trademark and brand name and causing losses to the business. Initially, you should send a cease and desist notice to the infringers with the consultation of the lawyers for trademark cases highlighting your ownership and exclusivity of it through registration of the trademark. You can also raise a complaint and disputes in the e-commerce platform and take action to remove the listing from such websites. Similarly, you can file a suit for infringement and passing off a lawsuit before the court to stop the misuse of your brand name and trademark.

The most common worry of the entrepreneurs is the way Indian Legal System works as they may fear it may take years. But it is not true, the law in India concerning Intellectual Property Rights has changed, and in fact, the courts are granting an ex-parte injunction against the infringers on the first day of the case itself against the copycats with damages. However, it is all starts with how unique and coined your brand name is when you start launching your brand. If you have chosen a trademark or a brand that is very common or identical to any existing brand in the market, then your chances of growing your business or successfully handling legal disputes are very less. On the other hand, having a unique brand offers an upper hand in terms of brand value and also any future legal action against the copycats and counterfeiters.

75 Views
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Print

Need More Details

Need to get in touch with us? Simply fill out the form below
Blog contact form

Latest Post

Related Article

Feel Free to Contact Us

Contact Us