An Outlook on Advertisement of Trademark Application

The application of a Trademark is when managed by the Trademark Registrar, goes for advertisement in the Trademark Journal online. The publication of the Journal is done to give a chance to the public to file for Trademark Opposition. The opposition of Trademark is an essential rule under the Trade Marks Act, 1999. Whenever The Trademark Registrar is fully satisfied and accepts the Trademark application, the Registrar must do an advertisement of Trademark application in the Journal. Scroll down to check more information regarding the advertisement of Trademark Application.

An Overview of Trademark

As stated by the Trade Marks Act, 1999, a Trademark is a name, logo, label, brand, word, sign, phrase, etc. by which a company recognise their products or service by itself and are able to differentiate its products and services produced or manufactured by other competitors in the marketplace. The primary objective of a Trademark is to create a mindset of customers, a connection between dissimilar products & services that the company provides and then differentiate them from other products/services supplied by various competitors in the market.

Also, a Trademark consists of any symbols or signs which are capable of being symbolised graphically. A Trademark should be able to differentiate between the products or services of one company from the products or services of other companies in the market. The Trademark owner must try to choose for such a Trademark, which is not used by any other challenger in the market. If a Trademark, which is distinct and new and it not used by any other company or individual, can go for Trademark Registration, then the Trademark Registrar can directly do the advertisement of Trademark application in the Trademark Journal.

The proprietor of the product/service and business can go for the application for the Trademark Registration with the Trademark Registry. The registration boosts the owner’s right by providing lawful evidence and proprietorship of the product or service. A registered Trademark is evidence of the Trademark owner’s right and hence, permits the Trademark owner to sue any individual violating the usage of the Trademark.  The registered Trademarks with the Registry are certified to use the ® symbol.

When the Owner does the Advertisement of Trademark Application in Trademark Journal?

After finishing the procedure of hearing of the opposition, the Registrar can go for the advertisement of Trademark application. The advertisement of the application is done to provide an opportunity to raise objections, if any, to the Trademark application. The advertisement of Trademark application can be done before or after its acceptance by the officer of the Trademark. Once the Trademark Registrar accepts the Trademark application, the Registrar is required to advertise the application of Trademark Registration, which is approved to be published in the Journal.

A Trademark application is scrutinised at various levels of the registration for checking the genuineness or validity of the Trademark. When a Trademark application for the registration is assigned to the examiner, then they will examine the application as per the prescribed norms in the Trade Marks Act, 1999, chiefly as per Section 9 and 11 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999^[1]. After the examination of the application, the examiner raises objections in the application if needed. The applicant of Trademark application is required to remove all the objection in the application. After this, the application goes to the next step, i.e. advertisement before acceptance and advertised in the Journal.

Advertisement of Trademark Application before Acceptance

The status of Trademark “Advertised before Acceptance” concludes that the Trademark is advertised in the Trademark Journal, but there are some reservations linked with the Trademark. After the advertisement of application in the Trademark Journal, the Trademark Opposition time begins. The period of the opposition of a Trademark is for four months. During the period of Trademark Opposition, the applicant has to wait and see for any type of opposition occurs related to the Trademark.

An application for the registration can be advertised in the Trademark Journal before acceptance or as accepted. Section 20(1) Trade Marks Act, 1999, provides for provisions related to the advertisement of application before acceptance, where the office of Trademark considers that Section 9 and 11 of the Trade Marks Act, 199, is appropriate to say Trademark application. In case the Trademark Office is not influenced by the uniqueness of the Trademark, the examiner can order to advertise the Trademark before acceptance in the Journal. Section 20(1) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, where the office of the Trademark thinks it is helpful to advertise the application before acceptance, the Trademark Office can do so in some extraordinary cases only.

When the opposition is filed against the application, which was advertised before acceptance by the Trademark Registrar, it becomes a ground for Trademark refusal on the line that the Trademark Office was not fully convinced on the Trademark registration. If there is no Trademark Opposition, then there is no difference between Trademarks advertised after or before acceptance as both the Trademarks were registered without any judgment by any third party.

Therefore, all different Trademark application filed in the Journal, only a very small amount of applications is published before acceptance by the office of Trademark. Usually, a Trademark application after the acceptance of the Registrar is published in the Trademark Journal.

Advertisement of Trademark Application after Acceptance

After the examination of the Trademark application by the Trademark Registrar, the Trademark may get advertised as accepted in the Trademark Journal. The advertisement of application in the Trademark Journal as accepted means that there are no objections in the application and the Trademark Office believes the Trademark as perfect for the Registration under Registry. But, this is not the actual case we all come across regularly with the registration. When the office of Trademark is completely convinced about the uniqueness of the Trademark, then the Trademark is ordered by the Trademark Office to be advertised as accepted in the Journal.

If the Trademark is advertised as accepted doesn’t mean that there is surety of Trademark application being accepted, and Trademark shall be registered in the Trademark Journal. There is no such assurance of registration by the Trademark office. The Trademark advertised as accepted has the opportunity of being opposed and get rejected by the office of Trademark. The advertisement of Trademark application as accepted simply means that the Trademark office is convinced about the opportunities of Trademark Registration in the Trademark Journal.

When the status of the Trademark shows “advertised as accepted” on the website of IP (Intellectual Property), the Trademark gets advertised in the Trademark Journal. After the advertisement, a time period of four months is given to the public for the opposition. At this time, the applicant is required to wait and see to check whether there is any opposition to the Trademark or not.

Purpose of the Advertisement of Trademark Application

The primary purpose of the advertisement of Trademark application in the Trademark Journal is to provide complete details about the Trademark application, which is advertised to the general public so that the general public can get all the information they require about that specific Trademark from the Registry of Trademark. When the advertisement fails to offer full information regarding a Trademark or gives incorrect information about the Trademark, then an actual Opposition of the Trademark can be filed by the general public. The Opposition of the Trademark by the public leads to the cancellation of the advertisement of Trademark application and re-advertisement of the application in the Trademark Journal before getting the Registration Certificate to the applicant.

Conclusion

The advertisement of Trademark application is done to give a chance to the general public to file for any Trademark Opposition for the Trademark registration application. The application must provide all the essential information, and the Registrar will examine the Trademark application, and if the Registrar is fully satisfied, then they will advertise the Trademark application in the Trademark Journal.

Also, Read: When the Symbols ® or TM should be used during Trademark Registration?