While initiating a business, it is crucial to take some time to comprehend the IP and develop an IP strategy to safeguard your business with a long-term vision. Owners of the start-ups should take the required steps to make sure that their brand is safety safeguarded. This would surely help their businesses to grow and flourish in the long-run.
It is essential to maximize the value of your start-up’s trademark, especially for the ones who are running on a meager budget. Also, start-ups frequently possess a finite number of marks, and each of these marks is more vital and has a more significant influence on the public.
That’s why developing a top-notch IP strategy is more critical for new companies that include online trademark registration in India to ascertain protection. Here are the five trademark protection tips for your start-up as given below.
Be creative and opt for a strong brand.
It is important to have a sui generis and exciting name for your brand. At the same time, it is crucial to opt for a trademark that you like and that resembles your services and products to increase registration chances. Generic and descriptive marks cannot be registered as a trademark.
The strongest names such as Nike or IKEA or generic words filled concerning unconnected services and products like Blackberry or Apple. You might also want to know that brands with location names in them may have to face an objection. If it has been accepted for registration, they will be allocated with some constraints such as disclaimers and limitations for goods and services.
Carry out your research.
We have witnessed many entrepreneurs opting for a business name, making a website, prepping promotional material, and making sales and earning profit in return. One day, out of the blue, they get a letter from a third-party notifying that they are contravening their trademark rights. They are left with the only option at this stage, and it is to start a rebranding from scratch to circumvent legal action. Rebranding and altering a name require a big-budget and the process itself is time-consuming. Nonetheless, such types of mistakes can be avoided with proactive steps at hand.
Hence, once you decide on the catchy name, it is suggestive of carrying out a trademark search to ensure your trademark’s eligibility for registration in specified trademark classes. The research will help you to identify if similar or identical trademarks have been registered priorly by the third-party, which could restrict your trademark registration process.
Registration is crucial hence it should not be delayed.
As the owner of the start-up, the trademark registration will not be on your top priority list. Nonetheless, treat your trademark as your asset, even though it is an intangible one. It holds some value that can be notable and has the potential to grow your business.
It is critical to protect your trademark, and it should not be delayed. It is just a one-time mistake that one can afford to make. Otherwise, you would find third-party getting the benefits from it and when the legal action can be taken against you because of your trademark’s resemblance and similarity with the third-party’s. That’s why to avoid such circumstances, it is crucial to acquire protection for the brand.
Hence, how should you act? First, you should break common myths about trademark registration and submit a trademark application before you begin using it in public or before the launch of your products and services. The process to obtain one is time-consuming. Usually, it takes months, or in some Asian countries (such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand), it takes much longer than that.
Reliable and proper registration would offer you the prerogative to restrict third-parties from using or registering similar or identical marks. To build a healthy and vibrant image, it is essential to protect your brand to be a successful business. If you do not do it promptly, then all your efforts and money in your business would go in vain.
Taking assistance from a trademark agent.
To protect your business, it is crucial to protect your IP rights first. For doing so, you will have to take assistance from the IP experts to learn which elements of your business needs IP safeguard, namely designs, trademarks, copyrights, etc. The expert would help you decide what can be safeguarded and show you the path to avoid objection in the examination process. They possess the overall knowledge about it and with experience. They would also give you advice on how to save money for the long-run.
One should keep in mind that it is not complicated to submit a trademark. Nonetheless, it is crucial to get registration right and proper – opting for the best version of the mark (white or black in color, device mark, or wordmark, etc.), selecting the correct classes while listing goods and services. Additionally, once submitted, the trademark’s representation cannot be changed generally, and interests, classes, and services cannot be added. It is vital to forecast while submitting an application where your business would be in the next few years.
Reverence for others’ rights.
Possessing your registered trademark gives you the prerogative to utilize it in the country from where you have acquired the registration, and you will have a legal right to use third-party for contravention of your right without your prior approval to use.
It could be the case where third-party might possess the right priorly. To eliminate the dangers of infringing their rights, it is suggested to carry out a trademark search for its availability without any delay. As trademark disputes are expensive and you must revere the rights of others.
As a business owner or an entrepreneur, you should be cautious about building your reputation in the industry. Trademark registration helps you to build a connection with your customers. The logos and names that locate your brand are of the utmost significance and legal protection, which becomes crucial for business growth.
