How To Go About Trademark Registration

A trademark is a key intellectual property right that helps in protecting the ownership that a firm or any other body has over its brand name or logo. Trademarks can become legally enforceable only when they are properly registered with the appropriate authority. This registration not only certifies legal recognition of the use of a trademark but also serves as a notice of the trademark's existence to others so that they are deterred from using it for personal gains.

Once you have thought about a brand name, you should not wait for long before registering it. Any slackness in applying for the same might result in someone else applying for that name before you do, in which case you will lose the opportunity to register that trademark.

Firstly, you have to conduct a basic check on the current names to see if the name you want to register is available. You must conduct an elaborate search for similar trademarks registered by other companies to ascertain any chance of duplication. For this purpose you can take help of the list of registered names provided by the relevant authority.

The next step is getting the required form for registration and filling up details like the name of your company, the kind of product or service that it provides, and your office address. The form duly filled in should be then submitted with the specified amount of registration fee. However, you must remember that if you fail to do the needed check, then your application will not be accepted and your application fee will also be forfeited.

After your are done with these formalities, you might be needed to reply to certain questions from the authorities. These queries then have to be answered in a specified amount of time. Once your application has been accepted, you will receive a certificate from the concerned authorities that will give you the legal claim over the trademark in addition to the authority to take action against violation of the same.