Different Ways to Avoid a Trademark Objection in India

It is true that the Trademark plays a very important role in making a certain product successful in the market. It is indeed not so easy to make a trademark and for a company providing a product has to make his mark registered to protect their brands from any infringement. But, during the process of registration, sometimes the registrar may raise an objection to register a mark on various grounds. And therefore there are different ways to avoid a Trademark being objected by him. 

This blog will talk about some of the ideas on how one can avoid getting his mark objected. All these grounds help a person to get his mark registered without any hassle. 

What exactly Trademark Objection means? 

When a company decides to file an application for the registration of a trademark, a trademark examination officer is appointed during the process who examines the application. During that process, if the examination officer feels that the application has any errors, he may raise an objection to proceed further. Such an objection is called a Trademark Objection. 

The applicant is then required to file a reply to the examination report stating as to why his application must be accepted for further procedure. 

What are the Reasons for Trademark Objection?

Some of the reasons for the objection of a trademark are: –

• Errors in the name of the applicant 
• Using of wrong application form 
• Deceptively Similar mark have been used
• Vague and Indefinite specification of the goods or services. 
• No distinctive identity in the mark
• No submission of power of Attorney, where the application is submitted by an agent on the behalf of applicant 

What are the different ways to avoid trademark objection in India?

Trademark objection is certain to happen, and it cannot be controlled by the applicant. There are different ways to avoid trademark objection which are mentioned below : – 

Conduct an intensive and exhaustive research

The very first step of an entrepreneur is to conduct a very good and intensive research for a trademark. The applicant should research for a mark which is unique and not deceptively similar to the already registered mark. He should be careful during his research and make sure the mark should not be identical in any manner with the registered mark and not choose a mark which is already abandoned by the Trademark registry. 

To use a mark, that has a Distinctive Identity. 

When a mark has a distinctive identity, the possibility of it being rejected by the registrar is less. Therefore, the applicant must choose a mark which is unusual or extraordinary and is not even close to already registered mark, either in the form of visual, shape, sound etc. 

Avoid marks which are deceptively similar. 

The purpose of conducting an examination by the examination officer is to check whether the mark in the process of registration is not deceptively similar to a well-known trademark. Since, deceptively similar marks deceive and create confusion for the people between a well known mark and the mark in conflict; therefore the applicant must be sure that his mark is not deceptively similar to a well known mark at the time of registration. Else the mark will not be accepted. 

Avoid using Common words and use coin words.

The applicant should not use words which are quite common as it creates chances for the application to get rejected. Instead, the applicant should coin words by himself. This creates uniqueness, and such word grabs the attention as well. Therefore, words which are not common and rather created by the innovation of the applicant must be done in order to ease the process of Registration. 

No use of names relating to geographical locations

Using names relating to geographical locations should be absolutely avoided. It is bound to be rejected at the time of registration. 

Avoid errors while drafting the application

The applicant should be careful while drafting the application. It should be drafted free from all kinds of errors. When errors appear in the application, the examination officer returns the application to rectify the errors. This results into the unnecessary delay in the process. 

Conduct the intensive research relating to the field of operation only 

The research for a trademark by the applicant should be done in his field of operation. This helps to easily link your trademark with the work operation that the applicant is engaged in. Use of Traditional trademarks must be avoided. 

Avoid marks which are offensive

The applicant must avoid using of marks which are offensive as the registrar will refuse to register the mark if it is controversial in nature. 

Conclusion

When a trademark application is filed by the applicant, it is important for him to know how he can avoid a trademark objection by the registrar in different ways. The precautionary steps should always be taken by the applicant as it helps him to secure his trademark registration and the process is also not delayed due to any reason resulting in Trademark objection. 

The applicant should file the application for the registration of his trademark, complying with the rules and procedures specified under the Indian Trademarks Act, 1999^[1] .

Also, Read: How to file a Trademark Objection Reply?