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Why
Register Trademarks?
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A well-planned trademark registration
and patent filing strategy can make the myriad benefits of
patent protection cost-effective for most Small and Medium-sized
Enterprises (SMEs) - wherever their markets are located.
SMEs should take note that in general trademark registration and
patent protection are territorial - that is, protection has to be
secured in each jurisdiction. The types, application procedures,
and protection scope of trademark registration and patents are governed
by the laws and regulations of that jurisdiction and vary from one
to another. |
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Benefits
of Trademark Registration
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Registration of a trademark will give the trademark
owner the right to prevent third parties from using his/her registered
trademark, or a deceptively similar mark, without his/her consent
for the goods or services for which it is registered or for similar
goods or services.
For unregistered trademarks, owners have to rely on common law for
protection. It is more difficult to establish one's case under common
law. generally, a trademark when registered will last for a period
of 10 years and can be renewed indefinitely for successive periods
of 10 years. |
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Procedure
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It is advisable to do a trademark search before
filing the application to ensure that no similar trademark has been
registered. It takes about 3 months for the Trademark Registry to
respond to an application. If the Trademark Registry approves the
application, advertisement has to be placed in the Government Gazette to see if any third party will raise any objection. If no objection
is raised within 3 months, then an application can be filed for
registration certificate. The effective date of the registration
will be back dated to the date of the application.
However, if the Trademark Registry does not approve the application
and raise objections, it is possible to raise counter objections
and persuade the Trademark Registry to withdraw their objections.
Discussing these objections and counter objections will take considerable
time. The application in such situation will take more than 6 months.
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Information
Required
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Necessary information for registering a trademark
includes:
- Name of the applicant
- Address of the applicant
- Nationality or country of incorporation of the applicant
- Trade or business of the applicant
- Presentation / copy of the trademark
- Desired class of registration or details of goods, or services
within those classes which are traded
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Points
to Note
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| When applying for trademarks, companies should
avoid using common trade names or words that are too descriptive.
Trademarks bearing a direction relation to the products are also
not accepted. For example, the logo of a shoe cannot resemble shoes!
These criteria are set to avoid misleading, or creating misunderstandings
among customers, and to protect fair competition. |
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| Start protecting your trademarks, send us enquiry
form for application or enquiry now! |
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