A Trademark or Domain name is the unique identity of any business or online marketing. A lot of people say, what’s in a name?
But, this is not true when you want your business to make a different identity from another crowd.
It is a much essential and legal topic, mainly vital for website and business owners to mark the target audience.
Over time, as your business grows, your Brand’s value also increases through its personality, stories, and audience perception.
Definition of Trademark?
A trademark is a type of intellectual property that consists of a recognizable sign, design, symbol, logo, jingle, or any expression that identifies the products or services which belong to a particular source. The trademarks used to determine the services are called service marks.
Therefore, you tell everyone that this particular thing or business is yours, and no one can use it in others’ names without your permission.
What Can be Trademarked?
According to the law, almost everything can trademark for safety. Trademark doesn’t relate directly to the functions of any product, and also, this does not mean that it can affect the performance of the goods and services on which it applies.
Thus, anything from a word, phrase, color, instrument to cuisine, perfume, speakers, etc., can be registered under the Trademark.
What cannot be a Trademark?
1) Name/Surname:-
According to the Indian rules, names and surnames cannot be trademarked unless specific. Like, you cannot trademark the name SUNIL DHAWAN, but you can attach it with something else, like SUNIL DHAWAN’S FINANCING CONSULTANCY, and it can be trademarked.
2) Numerics:-
Furthermore, numbers cannot be used for trademarks, as they are associated with a specific nature.
3) Geographical locations:-
The geographic areas cannot be used as a trademark. E.g., if you use Jaipur with the label, it cannot be trademarked, as it is already a famous city.
4) Already registered trademarks:-
You cannot trademark anything already registered.
Like Nike use the tagline “just do it” in connection with the clothing and footwear accessories.
So, you can register the phrase “just do it” in connection with your gym. In this case, Nike cannot file any complaint against you for trademark infringement.
5) Common names and services may not be trademarked:-
Just as You cannot trademark Web Development for a Web Development service, it means that you cannot prevent other people from using the term to describe their web development service
Likewise, you cannot use PINEAPPLE for the pineapple you are selling, as the purpose of a trademark is to separate your product from others and not prohibit others from selling products of that type. It is not right to say to anyone that “I am the only person who can sell pineapples in Australia.”
Business Names and Domain Names –
It is only your responsibility to protect your brand and domain name. Whatever name you will choose for your business will become your brand identity.
It can be a tedious task to protect your Brand from the domain, hijacking, and domain squatting, and also, it can be costly for you. So, to protect your high capital business, you will need to apply the highest level of protection to it.
1. Registering the domain name –
Many web hosting companies allow you to check, verify and register domain names. If you are setting up a new business or making a new website, you should always prove that the same brand name or symbol doesn’t belong to others, making sure it is not the same as the other brand name.
2. Uses Of Trademark –
It has been seen that after receiving a logo, many businesses create the marketing literature acquire websites with their registered Trademark to find out if any other commercial uses their logo. Also, there is no such need to carry out activities because it is not available for others once you receive your mark. And once it is registered, it will not make any difference whether it has been used or not because someone already holds the right for it.
As of now, you can use or show your Trademark for the commercial purposes or promotion of your Brand.
3. Domain Register Service-
Generally, it wasn’t easy to choose the domain names with the top-level domains with domain extensions like .com, .in .org, etc. Because the words you wanted might have registered and so you will have to compromise with your choices. That’s why some new TLDs are introduced in the market, restricting domain hijacking.
Who Protects Your Trademarked Domains?
So after registering the domain, you may think of securing it. Or who should handle the work to ensure the domain registration?
The well-known non-profit Internet Corporation carries out this task for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which looks after all the internet domain names.
Work of ICANN And Trademark Clearinghouse :
The Trademark Clearinghouse and ICANN work together to provide clear and definitive protection to your registered Trademark and maintain a global database of verified trademarks. Therefore, it is always.
Beneficial to register your Trademark with Trademark Clearinghouse. You must supply all evidence for the mark you wish to hold to write. And the Trademark Clearinghouse will record your interest.
So, if any new applicants want to register a similar logo with another TLD, then that applicant will receive a message from Trademark Clearinghouse. And this message will be a warning from him that if he proceeds with the trademark completion task, then legal actions will be taken against him by the trademark owner. If the applicant continues the procedure, the trademark owner will notify the applicants’ activities. The trademark owner can also register their domain earlier with all the newly introduced TLDs. Pre-registration refers to the sunrise period, which intends to last between 1 month to 60 days, and it is also related to the trademarks registered under Trademark Clearinghouse.
Why Is It Important To Register Trademark?
1) It represents your Brand –
It is another way to refer your business. They are influenced by the trademarks and the reputation of your Brand also.
2) Exclusive rights –
Registering your trademark gives you the exclusive right for its uses.
3) Ownership –
You become the owner of your logo. And whoever uses your pre-registered Trademark will have to pay you the monetary value to use it.
4) It gives you a better approach –
Using the Trademark or a brand name helps you reach a vast audience, ultimately reducing your marketing and advertising cost. Many popular brands don’t even put the brand name into the posters that they publish. Therefore, the Trademark makes it easy for your consumers to find you.
5) It gives you Federative protection –
Registering a trademark with federal registration gives constructive notice to the country that you are the owner of the mark, even if you don’t do the business on the national level.
Last But Not The Least :
Domain hijacking and domain squatting have increased in the world of the internet. So it makes every website owner aware of the trademarking of the domain before it gets used by other business owners. So, it is always sensible to provide legal protection to your business and Brand by acquiring the domain names even before building or starting the company or a website.
