Our Core Services
Register your trademark before anyone else does
A trademark is a word, logo, distinguishing label, symbol, or combination that identifies and differentiates the source of goods or services of an organization from others in a marketplace.
It serves as a badge of origin, which assures consumers about the authenticity and quality of a product and service. It serves as a badge of origin, which assures consumers about the authenticity and quality of products and services and avoids confusion among the consumers.
Besides, when any person uses a registered trademark for commercial advantage, the trademark owner has the right to object to the use of the mark and pursue legal action for trademark infringement.
It is imperative to understand the nature of protection that a proposed mark would require, be it a word mark, device mark etc.
We assist our clients in assessing their proposed mark and business operations; and then advise on the nature and class(es) of the Trademark application. We run a thorough search to investigate existence of any prior competing marks to pre-empt any future objections/oppositions.
We prepare and file the Trademark Application, through our experts, in a timely and efficient manner.
After filing the application, Trademark Office may raise objection/s against the proposed mark; and may face rejection at the preliminary stage.
We assist in preparing a thorough reply to the Examination. A well drafted reply supported by legal grounds and evidences, raises the chances of acceptance of the trademark.
Before a mark is registered, it has to go through public scrutiny, for a period of four months, where any person can file an opposition to against the proposed mark.
We provide complete end- to end assistance in dealing with the opposition including, representing the clients in the Trademark Opposition proceedings, with a sound and appropriate legal strategy.
Trademark needs to be monitored timely, it aids in protecting your brand from infringement and unauthorized use. Regular watch of your trademark enables timely actions against the misuse.
We assist in managing the clients Trademark Portfolio, which includes:-
Checking for any competing marks or unauthorized users; and taking remedial actions like cease and desist notice and/or appropriate legal action.
Renewal is essential for the legal validity of trademark. Once trademark registered, a renewal is required to be done every 10 years to continue the legal protection.
Monitoring the life cycle of the trademark, to ensure that the trademark is renewed well within the validity period for a continued protection of the brand.
Trademark Licensing and Franchising allows to commercially leveraging brand while retaining ownership and ensuring quality control.
We assist in setting up the entire contract cycle management of the franchising arrangement, including drafting of franchisee agreements, master franchise agreements, non-disclosure agreements etc.
By granting right to use to your trademark, a market presence can be expanded, generation of revenue can be seen, and strengthen brand recognition in the market place.
A comprehensive search is conducted in local and international databases to identify any identical or similar existing trademarks. This step helps the Applicant to identify the existence of similar trademarks and reduces the risk of objections. However, this stage is not mandatory to be done, but highly advised.
The trademark application must be made in writing and submitted to the Trademark Registry either online or physically. Once the trademark application is filed, an application number is allotted to the Applicant. This stage of filing trademark application is one of the significant steps, as it helps to protect the identity of brand. Moreover, it reflects the clear vision of Applicant’s seriousness in protecting their brand by taking this initial legal measure.
Once the trademark application is filed, the application proceeds for Formality Check. It is a preliminary examination conducted by the Trademark Office. At this stage, all the procedural and documentation requirements are checked, here, if the Office identifies any errors in application, the status of application is marked as “Formality Check Fail” and a reply is required to be submitted here, However, if no errors found, the application gets accepted as “Formality Check Pass” and proceeds further for examination.
During Examination, the trademark office examines the application to verify compliance with legal requirements, including similarity, non-similarity, distinctiveness and non-descriptiveness. If the examiner discovers any objections, then examination report is issued and in response to this a detailed reply has to be filed, within a period of 30 days, to overcome the objection and may require a hearing before the trademark office in some cases.
In case the reply is not filed, the application shall be rejected as abandoned.
After receiving the reply of examination report from the Applicant or after the hearing, as the case may be, the Trademark Registry may either refuse the trademark or accept the application.
Once the trademark is accepted by the Trademark office, it gets advertised in the Trademark Journal. This Trademark Journal is published weekly and contains the information of all the trademark application. Here the trademark is advertised for a period of 4 month and during this any third party can oppose the advertised mark, if opposition received then opposition proceedings will begin.
A trademark reaches the registration stage when it does not receive any opposition during the four month window. Once these steps are completed, this benchmark is achieved and a certificate of registration is issued in favor of Applicant. Subsequent to registration, the Applicant is free to use the trademark with ® symbol for period of 10 years and thereafter registration must be renewed every ten years.
Everything you need to know about Filfox IP
