Top Strategies to Ensure Your Trademark Stays Protected After Filing
Applying for trademark protection is important in attempts to safeguard your brand, however, registering a trademark does not end at this stage.
Your trademark is valuable to the extent that it is actively safe and maitain as a means of protecting businesses from legal infringements and Acts of misrepresentation.
In this article, we will look at everything you must do following the filing of the trademark with regard to actions that will help you maintain the trademark’s safety in the long run.
To fully explain the strategies, it’s important to first outline the trademark filing process in India.
The first step is to do a trademark search to check if the mark is available or already in use.
In the next process, the search is made to ensure that the said mark is available, and an application is then made to the Trademark Registry.
This application is given to an examination and the trademark is register in cases. Where there is a insufficiency criticisms or opposition.
But this is just the start of your trademark protection journey which you need to take care of in the future.
Monitor the Use of Your Trademark
Among all the procedures followed after a trademark has been filed, one of the most important ones is the monitoring of the trademark.
Trademark being a commercial symbol, its protection is not automatic once registered. but demands action on the side of the trademark owner.
Check the marketplace from time to time to make sure no other party is using your trademark or a very close one in a way that would confuse the public.
There are assort ways you can keep track of your trademark or have it controlled.
Self-monitoring of the Internet is possible by using specific services for the monitoring of newly submit trademarks or their registration.
Also, it is advisable to monitor the domain names, social media accounts, and online selling platforms. First, discover bad actors who may be using your trademarked brand without authorization
Renew Your Trademark on Time
A registered trademark validity of Ten years.
This means that to keep the trademark protected, you need to renew it during this time.
That’s why we’ve created this feature How Can You Maintain Your Trademark After Filing?
Inaction on the side of the trademark holder will lead to the trademark being delisted. Hence exposing the brand to more cases of infringement.
The renewal process is relatively simple to describe. After 6 months of the trademark’s expiry date of issuance, the Trademark Registry sends out a notification to the trademark owner.
Renewal application was accompanied by fees is an essential process in the continued registration of the trademark.
If the renewal application is not fullfil within the stated time, the trademark can be expunged from the register.
It’s important to mention that there’s an additional six-month period after the due date. When the trademark owner can still renew it by paying additional fees.
Use Your Trademark Consistently
The best way in which to maintain the classical and continuing protection of your trademark is by applying it consistently.
India is no exception when it comes to the problem of cancellation of trademarks for non-users. And non-usage for a period of five consecutive from the date of registration and even earlier.
What this means is that if you have registered a trademark and do not actively use it within this period or if you cease using the trademark altogether. Then a third party can approach the commission and request for your trademark to cancel based on non-user.
To claim your mark’s validity, it should be used in the course of trade as regards the goods or services for which it has been registered.
This involves branding it on the cartons, documents, website, business letters, and any other materials relating to the business.
It is also relevant to use the trademark in the way it is register. without several changes that may influence the trademark’s distinguishability.
Conclusion
As mentioned, trademark protection is continuous and owners need to be cautious, consistent, and active. Even after completing the registration process.
Through implementing the guidelines highlighted in this article you can be sure of the trademark’s constant protection with being an asset to the company.
FAQ Registering a trademark in India is only part of the process. The real work begins after the trademark is registered.
Thus, reporting, exercising rights, and consulting with experts are the ways to protect the trademark and preserve the brand for several years.
How Can You Maintain Your Trademark After Filing?
Thus, Read This article to be proactive, most vigilant, and best informed to retain a trademark as a strong weapon to defend your business within the constantly growing competition.
