Why is Trademark Registration in India Crucial for eCommerce Sellers?
To establish any business with its original trademark, it is necessary to provide recognition to your business and products, even if you are selling them on multiple eCommerce platforms. Although trademark registration in India is not compulsory, you must consider this if you want to save your business or online products from forgery or want to restrict their copyrights. To make your eCommerce products recognizable in front of millions of customers, you must understand the importance of trademark registration.
A trademark is exclusively a unique symbol or word representing your products on various eCommerce marketplaces. Once you register your individual trademark, no one can copy it or use it, and it will remain yours as long as you use it and pay a fee for that. Unlike a flagship or patent, you can acquire a trademark forever. All you need to do is apply for your trademark to the Indian trademark office. It allows you to claim protection from others who may try to sell your copied products. In this blog, we have briefly introduced trademark registration and why you need to have one.
What is Trademark Registration?
As mentioned above, a trademark is meant to be an exclusive logo, symbol, word, or name of a company or product to make it different from others. It lets the customers recognize your products from your trademarks. In India, as an eCommerce seller, you can register your trademark under the Act 1999. Indeed it is not mandatory, but it will be best to protect your products from being violated or used by any third party in an unauthorized way.
Over time, trademarks have become identical to a company name. For example, we all recognize Apple by its half-eaten apple shape, or we recognize Mcdonald’s with its trademark. Logos and symbols are the best trademarks for any business because they can get recognized easily.
Role of Trademark for eCommerce Sellers
As you know, India’s eCommerce business has been snowballing in the last few years. This platform has provided an immense opportunity to local sellers, who have expanded their online business to the next level. Millions of sellers have registered their companies on various eCommerce platforms to sell their products.
So due to the multiple sellers, competition is really tough, and it is vital to have a distinctive trademark for your business as it can help your customers to recognize your products easily. A trademark will help you to retain and attract customers if they remember your trademark and search for your products. It can also help increase your credibility in the market and give your products unique recognition.
What is the Significance of a Trademark?
- Well, a trademark helps identify a product or a service online and offline.
- It provides sellers and brands exclusive rights over visual elements that make them unique and set them apart from others.
- It also assures the quality of the products or services by associating it with trustworthy sellers or brands.
- It helps you to promote your products in a unique way.
- It provides legal protection against fraudulent and copied products.
- A trademark can make it easier for you to launch a new product and promote it on various platforms to attract the maximum number of customers.
- It enables your business to set goodwill at the marketplaces and can help attain the customers’ trust.
Various Forms of Trademark
You can register your trademarks in the following forms:
- An attractive logo or a graphic design.
- You can register your trademark in an audio format.
- A trademark can be an image, 3d images, shapes, letters, or symbols.
- A combination of letters and numbers can also be registered as a trademark.
- The name of the brand and products can also be registered as a trademark.
These are various types of trademarks that any business can opt for; for online sellers, we recommend a logo and graphic-based trademark because that can be more visible to your customers.
The process to Apply for a Trademark Registration in India
Any person, legal entity, or company selling products or services can apply for a trademark. This registration process can take approximately 18-24 months to be completed. Once you register successfully, you can use the registered symbol with your trademark to highlight its registration. You will also receive a registration certificate to guarantee legal protection from the Trademark office. A single registration remains valid for almost ten years from the date of acquisition after you need to renew it to continue the protection of your business.
Required Documents for Trademark Registration
- You need to provide them with a copy of your trademark or logo.
- Your personal details include name, PAN card number, Aadhaar number, GST number, etc.
- A specification about the products and services for which you want a trademark.
- If you already have a trademark and want to renew that, then you need to mention the date of usage on the application.
- The trademark registration office sometimes asks you to submit a power of attorney.
Here we are mentioning some of India’s essential trademark registration processes. - As you know that trademarks should be unique and genuine, you must research them and implement public searches to benchmark the availability of a trademark. It is essential to check if identical trademarks are available or not to escape rejections.
- After selecting your trademark, you need to file an application to the trademark registry in India. They have offices in all the prominent metropolitan cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, etc. However, these days you can also apply for a trademark online but getting help from a professional is recommended to minimize the errors.
- After submitting your application, the examiner will go through it and may conduct a formal examination. It can take between 12-18 months. After that, they can publish your trademark in the trademark Journal.
- During this process, if an opponent arises with copyright infringement issues, you may have to attend a fair hearing, and you can defend your rights to register your trademark.
- If you get the clearance successfully, the trademark office will provide you with a registration certificate. Now you can use your trademark symbol on your products.
Conclusion
Thus, in the above paragraphs, you must have understood why Trademark registration in India is crucial for eCommerce sellers. This registration is imperative in terms of providing an identity to your online business and products. It eradicates the chance of forgery, duplicating, and other violations with your products whenever any other sellers try to sell your products under your name and logo. It positively increases the popularity of the brand. However, it does not guarantee a sale; all it can do is protect your brand and products in this colossal eCommerce industry from your competitors. This is why every seller and brand who is associated with the market should make sure to register their trademark.
