The trademark is one of the types of intellectual property. It is the legal defense of the name of your products, helps to protect the rights in case of forgery, forgery, and counterfeit. In addition, it helps to create a circle of regular clients, distinguishes your product or service from competitors, and often serves as a guarantee of quality.
Before you take the company to the market or introduce a new product (service), you have to take care of its protection. After all, if you wait until the business becomes successful, it can happen irreparably - the name of your brand is already occupied by someone.
During the preparation for the TM registration process, it is vital to define what will be secured. In order that you are not refused registration of TM, it is recommended to conduct a preliminary search for the similarity and identity of the name.
How Is a Trademark Determined?
A TM can be any word, symbol, name, slogan, a picture that the company uses to distinguish itself in the market.
The main feature is that TM should be distinctive and unique. Moreover, depending on the category of TM, this will affect the degree of protection and the possibility of obtaining exclusive rights. TM should be the defining features of your product or service.
Categories of Mark
The mark is not just intellectual property but also has a very powerful effect on the market. Categories of marks include are following four marks:
- Trademark
- Service Marks
- Certification marks
- Collective marks
Note, that there is some difference between how trademarks and service marks are protected. You are in charge for completing the rights and controlling the use of your own mark.
Trademark Dilution
Often dilution of TM leads to the fact that the uniqueness of the popular trademark begins to fall significantly and eventually becomes dull. What is meant by breeding a trademark? This implies the marking of goods or services that do not compete with each other and is associated with a well-known brand. A trademark should not cause confusion. And even if it does not cause confusion, it breaks the law.
For example, a clothing manufacturer will not be able to use the Pandora sign if it does not mislead consumers whether this product belongs to the world famous brand of jewelry.
This is considered a violation of the law of the trademark, because of which you will be refused registration of your trademark. Also, the use of famous trademarks can lead to a serious trial.
Certification and Collective Trademarks
- Certification marks imply confirmation of origin and product features. Such signs indicate a specific location, composition and any other specific characteristic. These signs indicate the conformity of the goods to one or another standard, the requirements of certification organizations and so on.
They are national, international, industry or definitely created for a certain group of goods. All industrialized countries, as well as international organizations and companies, have their own certification marks.
- A collective mark is suitable for licensing authorities or for trade unions. Trademarks of this category are usually the property of associations or groups of companies (organizations). In this case, each participant of such a group (association) has the right to use it.
In the role of this sign can act words, symbols, phrases drawings or even combinations of all of the above, which indicate that a person is a member of a particular organization. Members of the organization are those who use this mark to confirm their belonging to this unit, and the unit remains the owner of the mark. Such tags help to become quickly recognizable.