The brand, taglines, logo, labels of the products or services offered by a company should be registered. The benefits are huge for a registered trademarks then the unregistered trademarks. Many companies mistakenly believe that registration of their Company name with Registrar of Companies (RoC) offers protection to their trademark. In fact, such registration with RoC is not related to trademark registration and does not provide any trademark protection for the company name. In cases of expansion of business or transfer of business or any potential infringement/passing off claims, the registration of trademark comes in handy.
Do you plan to create brand value for your business?
If your answer is yes, then you must consider registering the trademark as your competitor might get attracted to your brand value and they might attempt to register identical trademark of yours and prevent you from expanding in the future. The registered mark establishes priority rights and a legal presumption of ownership of the mark and the exclusive right to use the mark in India. The companies which sell their products or services online or have a website must consider registering their trademark and they would have a worldwide exposure and without a registration, such companies might have end up having extremely limited common law trademark rights. More importantly, any business who sells product or services internationally then the trademark application or registration can serve as a basis for obtaining registration in foreign countries.
Using Prestigious ® symbol
Trademark allows the registered proprietor to use the ® symbol in conjunction with their trademark. The Trademark Act 1999 allows only the registered owners of the trademark to use the ® symbol. The ® symbol sends the message to public and competitors as well, about your exclusive ownership as a registered proprietor of the brand and you are conscious about your protection of trademark. Also, the registration of trademark can be vital in case of domain name disputes when some third parties are using your trademark as a domain name and can result in a forced assignment of the infringing domain name to you.
Valuation of business
Trademarks of a business can be the most valuable assets of a Company despite of their intangible nature. If you ever looking to raise investment or transfer business the registered trademarks can significantly increase the value of your company. The registered and unregistered trademarks are widely analysed by the prospective investors or buyers and impact the valuation of business during due diligence.
Enforcing Trademark Rights against infringes?
The registered trademark per serves as constructive notice to the public about your exclusive ownership of the trademark and allows you to take legal actions in form of civil or criminal against the infringes. Registered trademark can sue against the infringes within his jurisdiction and the court recognizes your ownership and the burden will be on the infringe to prove his defense. The registered proprietor gets remedies in form of injunction against the infringe and also provide additional remedies of statutory and compensatory damages including the costs for the suit.
Cost of Registration
The costs of trademark registration are very minor compared to broad scope of protection available to the registered owners and the registration of trademark is perpetual subject to the renewal once in every 10 years.
Conclusion
Though the unregistered trademarks are protected under common law rights but the remedies under statutory are not adequate considering the complexities involved during registration. Hence, trademark registration is necessary to avail all benefits and protection you would need for your brand.
