Benefits of Trademark Assignment

A trademark is a type of intellectual property that consists of a unique and recognizable name, sign, logo, design, or expression which distinguishes and identifies the products or services of a specific company from those of others. The symbols ® is ‘the registered trademark symbol’ and ™ is ‘the trademark symbol’ which is usually used to indicate the trademark.

Trademark is like an asset and the owner of a trademark has this right to sell or transfer his owned intellectual property^[1] for consideration. Such a process of transfer of owner’s interest, title and right can be made through Trademark Assignment Agreement or by Licensing. Thus, in this article we will know the benefits of trademark assignment.

What is trademark assignment?

Trademark assignment is defined as the transfer of or assigning of the part of the ownership of a trademark from one party to other. Hence, the owner has the right to assign the ownership rights of such brand and the trademark to another person with or without the goodwill of the business.

A Trademark can only be transferred via deeds and agreements between two persons. If the trademark is registered then such assignment is mandatorily to be recorded in the Register of trademarks.

Types of Trademark Assignment

There are four ways through which a trademark can be assigned:

Complete assignment

Complete assignment is a kind of assignment where all the rights are absolutely transferred to the assignee by the owner of the trademark.

In such a case, the assignee gets the rights which shall include rights such as the right to transfer further and the right to earn the royalties.

Partial assignment

In this category the trademark assignment is made to the assignee, but only with respect to few of the goods and services. Hence, in partial assignment the ownership transfer of the trademark is limited to specific goods or specific services only. Hence, the rights here are not completely transferred.

Assignment with goodwill

In this category of assignment, there is transfer of goodwill i.e. the rights and values of the product with the trademark is assigned to another person. Hence, the goodwill valuation is differently calculated in the agreement.

Assignment without goodwill

In this category of assignment, the product’s goodwill is not transferred together with the assignment of the trademark. Hence, the owner of the brand limits the assignee’s rights and does not permit to use such trademark of the concerned brand for the products that are being used by the assignor. This assignment is also termed as a gross assignment.

The Method to Draft a Trademark Assignment Agreement

Drafting of a Trademark Assignment Agreement is the most important step in the procedure of assigning the trademark and making trademark agreement. The given below are some of the major elements which be obliged while drafting the trademark assignment agreement:

• The effective date of transfer
• The trademark that is to be assigned
• Assigner together with the assignee must be clearly mentioned
• Consideration of the trademark assignment
• Public notary
• The warranties that must be issued
• Signature of both the parties.

Documents required for trademark assignment in India

• Certificate of Trademark Registration.
• The assignor and assignee’s name and description.
• The original owner’s No Objection Certificate (NOC) of his registered trademark.

What are the Benefits of trademark assignment?

The benefits of trademark assignment are given below:

Expansion of business

Licensing is one of such assignment through which both the assigned and the assignee has the right to connect the brand name with their particular business. Consequently, the collective efforts of both add value and are one of the benefits of trademark assignment. Additionally, with partial assignment there can be expansion of assignment business by engaging more vendors to support and maintain the brand building.

Unlock value

 The benefits of trademark assignment includes that the assignment agreement will enable the brand owner to unlock his brand value. As assigning the trademark is important for the product or service and significantly it makes it better in entering the market because now it is combined with an already recognized brand.

It is a valid proof

One of such benefits of trademark assignment is that in case of any dispute in relation with the trademark, the legal rights shall be easily recognized in the deed. The registrar will have to make sure by validating the agreements and the clauses in agreement and also publishing it in the journal.

Conclusion

The benefits of trademark assignment gives the owner to encash his brand value at the same time the assignee gets the benefit of dealing with the already established and existing brand name. The benefits of trademark assignment are one of the most utilised tools for transfer of intellectual property rights from the owner to others. Therefore, both the assignee and the assigned must ensure that they are strictly adhering to the trademark assignment agreement.

Read our article:Among Trademark owned by a Promoter or Company, Which One is Better?