Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Trademark registration protects the goodwill of a business and also helps to identify and distinguish the source of the goods or services of one party from those of others. Trademark registration is an evidence of ownership of the trademark and also constructive notice nationwide are issued of the trademark owner's claim. Trademark registration in India can also be used as a basis for obtaining registration in foreign countries. Conduct a market research to ascertain whether any identical or deceptively similar mark is used for the same goods by other person. It is advisable not to imitate other person's trademark or any other well known trademark even if the goods are different. Before applying for registration it is desirable to obtain preliminary advice regarding the distinctiveness of you mark from the Registrar of Trade Marks.
In order to determine whether any person or company is using a particular trademark a trademark search can be conducted. It is advisable to get the official search report from the registered and pending application records before filing the application. Your trademark search results will help you save valuable time and money. Before you make a large investment in a name, you want to know whether it is secure. You would not like to promote a name that is confusingly similar to another company's trademark and subjects you to the risk of a lawsuit for trademark infringement. Your search results will help you complete your own application by giving you numerous examples of completed registration.
Once you have filed an application for registration of trademark, the TM symbol may be used with the mark. Anyone who claims rights in a mark may use the TM (trademark) designation with the mark to alert the public to the claim. However, the registration symbol, R, may only be used once the mark is actually registered in the Trademark Registrar's Office. Even though an application is pending, the registration symbol may not be used before the mark has actually become registered.
Please note that owning a domain name without a TM does not necessarily permit you to conduct business with that domain. When you build a lot of brand equity in a name, the last thing you want to do is to see it tarnished. Therefore a good option is to secure your domain name with a registered trademark. Numerous business and domain owners have spent a lot of money and time building and establishing a business only to find out that some other business or individual placed or previously applied for a trademark. Some business/domain owners have been ordered by court to stop conducting business which infringes on other's business/domain and others have stopped doing such business to avoid legal prosecution.
To enjoy the exclusive rights over the invention. If the inventor does not get the patent rights over his invention and introduce his product/process based on his invention in the market, any body can copy his invention and exploit it commercially. To debar others from using, selling or working out his invention, the inventor must go for getting a patent. The inventor can use it, sell or license it to profit commercially.
The Bombay High Court has held that the Internet domain names are of importance and are a valuable corporate asset. A domain name is more than an Internet address and is entitled protection as a trademark. With the advancement and progress in technology, the service rendered in the Internet site have also come to be recognized and accepted and are being given protection so as to protect such provider of service from passing off the services rendered by others as his service. As in the case of Rediff Communication Limited Vs Cyberbooth, (dispute of the domain name rediff.com as against rediff.com), the Court was satisfied that the defendants have adopted the domain name Radiff with the intention on trade on the plaintiff's reputation and accordingly the defendant was prohibited fro using the said domain name.
An invention must see the following three criteria to be eligible for grant of patent: Novelty Inventiveness ( Non-Obviousness) Usefulness. Novelty: An invention will be considered novel i) if it has not for the state of the art or has been described orally ii) if it has not been published or not used. Inventiveness ( Non-Obviousness): A patent application involves an inventive step, if the proposed invention is not obvious to a person skilled in the art ie., skilled in the subject matter of the patent application. The complexity or the simplicity of an inventive step does not have any bearing on the grant of a patent. Usefulness: An invention must possess utility for the grant of patent. No valid patent can be granted for an invention devoid of utility.
No. There is no International Patent. An inventor has to file an application in each country, where he seeks to protect his invention. There are regional and/or International treaties to facilitate the procedure to seek protection like Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) or European Patent Convention (EPC).
The rights of copyright holder are to produce the work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic means to issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation. to perform the work in public, or communicate it to the public to make any cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work. to make any translation of the work to make any adaptation of the work. In case of computer programme the rights also includes to sell or give on hire, or offer for sale or hire any copy of the computer programme, regardless of whether such copy has been sold or given on hire on earlier occasions.
Documentation which normally accompanies the programme is regarded as separate work and for this reason if the same has to be registered, it must be separately registered and not combined with the computer programme in a single application.
Although the Copyright Office has procedures designed to protect trade secrets but once the copyright is registered, the work is open to public inspection. For this reason, it is advisable, only to file a small extract of the computer program rather than the full program itself. It is important however to know that the part of the computer program which is not being filed would remain the trade secret of the owner and can be subject matter of a protection against any person who wrongfully obtains and utilizes the said program.
