What you will Learn: Discuss trademark objection and why TM is being abandoned. What are the reason for Trademark rejection? Things to know before applying for trademark registration.
If you want to build a brand around your business—it can be your product brand, your company name, your business , or any other sort of name that you want to create—you need to have trademark registration.
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Why do we need trademark registration?
We can understand this example: Let’s suppose you’re a manufacturer of t-shirts, and you sell them under the brand name ‘Sunil Fashion.” Let’s suppose your brand is very popular within Maharashtra state and you want to expand your business to other states like Gujarat.
There are high chances that all over India, there could be many suppliers and manufacturers who could be selling their own t-shirts or clothing under the same name, “Sunil Fashion.”
Now these people or companies could take advantage of your name and sell their products. Here comes the role of trademark registration. If you have registered the brand name “Sunil Fashion” under your company, then no one else can use that name to sell any sort of item under that particular category or class.
So its very crucial to register your brand as soon as you start your business to have the first mover advantage because once a name become popular, it’s rare chance that the particular name is available for registration.
Since when can we use the symbol TM on our brand name?
As soon as you apply for trademark registration, you can use the TM symbol along with your brand name. The team symbol could be used with your brand name until your brand is registered. After registration, you can change the team mark to the r symbol, which stands for registered brand.
Remember, a TM mark does not assure that the brand is registered; it just means that the trademark application has been filed for that particular brand name or logo.
Once your brand gets approved by the government, it will be called a “registered trademark,” and after that, only you can use the “are” symbol.
In this article, we are going to focus on the hurdles that you face while registering a trademark and why more than 50% of trademark applications are being rejected, refused, objected to, or even abandoned.
Top 5 reasons for Trademark rejection or objection
To understand the reason behind these rejections, you need to understand the trademark process.
1. Choosing wrong Trademark Class
1. The first step in trademark application is finding the class in which your product or brand falls.
For example, if it is a pharmaceutical company, it will fall under class 5, if it is a restaurant or hotel, it will fall under class 43, and so on.
Many times, trademark applications are rejected because the applicant chose the wrong class.
1. Choosing wrong Trademark Class
2. The next step is to search for a brand name on the IP search website of the government. https://ipindiaonline.gov.in/
You can do it by yourself, but I will always recommend that you seek the assistance of a professional because in-depth research has to be done on the brand name you want to use.
There have been many cases where applicants file the trademark straight away without even looking at the IP search website or even checking whether the brand already exists, is registered by someone else, or has been filed by someone else.
So if you are applying for a trademark without doing proper research on the brand name’s availability on the IP search site, there are high chances that it will get rejected or objected to.
3. Choosing common names or existing names leads to trademark rejection or objection.
For example, if you are registering a hotel brand and you choose a brand name like Krishna, Shiva, Ravi, Home Stay, Homely, Shanti, etc., you can never get it registered because there already exist brands with these names.
or your brand name, try to find somannamesithatname which do not havethatings which -re tailor made. BrFlipkart,eZomato,art Zomato swiggy Oyo, Ola, Dunzo, Jio—these brand names do not have any meanings or are not the kind of names that one can think of.
So choose a name that is unique, has no meaning, and is from a different language that is not common in English. frame new words, try shortforms like PayTM and OYO.
You can use these tools to generate brand names.
4. Choosing similar names, even if the spelling is different, will lead to trademark rejection or objection.
You cannot choose brand names with similar sounds. For example, we know that the Zomato brand already exists, and you want to register “Somato,” so this is not possible.
Choosing a unique sounding word has another added advantage, which is that even if someone at a later stage tries to register the same name or a similar sounding name as you have registered, at that point in time you can file an objection against that brand, stating that at the time you applied for the brand, there did not exist any such brand name all over India.
You could show that you have already been doing business with that name; you can show the proof of your product here, packaged with your marketing materials, your website invoices, etc., to support your statement.
So it’s highly recommended to choose unique-sounding words that nobody could have thought of. With this, you can easily get your brand registered without any difficulty or any kind of objection. You can popularise your brand name once you file the trademark application.
5. Not doing enough research
Before you file your application, you need to do proper research and give it as much time as it needs to find a proper brand name. It may take you a few days, a few weeks, or even a month. Because this brand name is going to decide your business’s future, you have to put in this much effort.
What is the trademark application fee?
If you are an individual, the trademark application fee is ₹4500 and for a company, it is ₹9000. If you are a company and you have a MSME certificate, then you have to pay 50% of the amount, which would be ₹4500.
Do we get a refund for the trademark application fee if it’s rejected?
No, there is no refund for the trademark application fee, even if the trademark is rejected or abandoned. You need to pay the trademark application fee for each brand name you apply for and for each class you apply for.
Let us know your feedback on this article “Top 5 reasons for Trademark rejection or objection” in the comments below 👇
Sunil Kumar Sah @DigitalSunilSah
Sunil is an E-commerce Seller, Blogger, YouTuber and Digital Marketer. He is a digital enthusiast and passionate about Online Selling. He loves sharing his knowledge and experiences on eCommerce in this blog and on his Hindi YouTube Channel “Ecommerce with Sunil” and the English Channel “Ecomsprint“
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