Trademark Search
- Leezer Kaur
- Apr 12, 2023
- 3 min read
“Written by Leezer Kaur, a 3rd-Year B.A.LL.B. Student At Army Institute Of Law, Mohali.”
Trademark
A trademark is a unique identification symbol, label, sign, logo, name, or any expression used for a product or service. These provide intellectual property rights to the owner of such a trademark towards his trademark. He can sue the person if someone uses his trademark or infringes his rights towards his trademark.
Trademark Search
A trademark search comprises the process of searching for a trademark. It is very important to search for a trademark before applying for registration of the trademark to prevent the decline of the application due to the pre-existence of such a trademark. It is also conducted to ensure that no new trademark is registered by the authority that is very similar to their existing trademark. Therefore, it mainly protects the intellectual property rights of a person being infringed and also prevents cancellation of the application of the person seeking registration of a similar trademark.
Procedure
The search for a trademark can be done on the portal of IP India or the Indian government’s trademark registry. To conduct a trademark search, it is very important to follow the below-given procedure.
Firstly, we are supposed to know if no such trademark exists in the class of goods and services concerning which the registration is sought.
Then, there is also this requirement of searching to make sure that their trademark is not similar to any trademark application pending with the trademark registering authorities.
It is also important to make sure that the search is conducted within the right legal jurisdiction.
It is also important to ensure that such a search was carried on through a government-authorized or reputable portal.
It is also important to ensure that the trademark is searched in the right category, i.e. if it is a logo or expression, design etc., to ensure that the search is valid.
On completion of this search, if the person seeking registration of the trademark and the trademark registering authority is satisfied that the trademark is unique, then that can be registered; otherwise, the application of the person stands cancelled. Also, for the completion of this registration process, there is a prescribed fee that is supposed to be paid to the authorities.
Kinds of Trademark Search
This Trademark search can be divided into two types based on the stage in which it is conducted:
a) PRELIMINARY SEARCH
It is conducted before applying for registration of the trademark and is mainly conducted by the person seeking registration of his trademark, and the object is to prevent the cancellation of his application on the ground of the pre-existence of such a registered trademark.
It prevents the following:
Objections from Registering authority
Suit for infringement of the intellectual property right.
Any other opposing proceedings
b) TRADEMARK CLEARANCE SEARCH
It is the final search that is mainly conducted during the registration of the trademark. It is stricter in its approach. In this, the authority responsible for the registration of such trademarks searches to check if no such trademark is already registered. If such a similar trademark is registered, the application is cancelled.
The trademark searches can be divided into the following types based on the category for which it is sought:
1) WORD SEARCH
It is conducted to determine if similar words are being used in the already registered word trademarks. These are grouped into 45 different categories based on the class of goods and services.
2) DEVICE MARK SEARCH
These are conducted concerning devices, i.e., styled letters, shapes, logos, figures, marks, etc. This search is conducted to prevent infringement of intellectual property of trademarks that involves a logo, shape, or such figures and devices and not words.
Conclusion
A trademark is a unique identification symbol, logo, or sign used to indicate a brand of products and services. A trademark search is a process whereby it is checked that no such registered trademark already exists, and therefore, it is used to facilitate the registration of the trademark. The registration of a trademark provides the owner with intellectual property rights toward his trademark, and he is entitled to sue the person who uses his trademark or infringes his trademark rights. These kinds of searches can be further classified into Word search, device mark search, preliminary search, or trademark clearance search.
References:
'Trademarks', available at: https://ipindia.gov.in/.
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