A trademark is a symbol, design, or phrase that identifies a particular supplier’s goods and services. A registered trademark grants the exclusive use of a mark to identify or represent a product or service. The number of trademark applications and Indian businesses’ knowledge of intellectual property have steadily increased over the past ten years. It is essential for both new and established businesses to either register their trademarks or keep track of filings for trademarks that are identical to their own. How to conduct an online trademark search in India is the subject of this article.
Indian businesses have become increasingly aware of the significance of intellectual property rights over the past few years. It’s possible that this is why the number of trademark applications has steadily grown over time. As a consequence of this, it is of the utmost importance for both new and established businesses to register their trademarks and to be aware of any pending trademark applications that are comparable to their company’s interests.
A thorough clearance check on trademarks (or brand names, trade names, business names, etc.) is the first step in avoiding trademark disputes. to guarantee that problems related to trademark infringement can effectively be avoided.
Prior to filing for your trademark, ideally, a clearance check should be conducted. It ought to include checking any and all associated registered trademarks, trademarks undergoing registration, or even trademarks currently in use. However, you can check at a later time if you are unsure whether the trademark you are using is free of disputes.
Trademark Search
It determines whether a proposed trademark is already in use for particular products and services. A trademark search in India can broadly identify similar wordmarks and phonetically similar names in a particular class.
The Comptroller General of Patent Designs and Trademarks monitors trademark registration and oversees registered trademarks in India. Trademark Database The Comptroller General’s website provides access to an electronic trademark search database for patent designs and trademarks. Professionals and non-professionals alike can use this database to search for trademarks.
All trademark applications issued by the Registrar of trademarks in India, including licensed, notified, objected, and expired trademarks, are contained in the trademark database. The search query for the trademark can be answered with useful information from a trademark database search.
There are three types of trademark searches that can be conducted in India:
Phonetic – for words that are phonetically identical. Vienna Code – for the same artistic representation.
How to Search for a Trademark in India?
The Indian trademark database link can also be used to conduct an online trademark search on the Trademark Registry.
Wordmark Search
Select the “wordmark” option from the search type option and enter the proposed trademark’s keywords in the box provided to perform a wordmark search.
because there are 45 registration classes for trademarks. The appropriate class(es) must be entered in the appropriate box. A single class can be used to search the Indian trademark database at a time.
The wordmark search can also be carried out using any prefix method, including “Starts With,” “Contains,” or “Match With.”
When you use the “Starts With” option to conduct a search, the “Starts With” option will return all of the trademarks that begin with the keyword you entered.
In a similar vein, if you use the “Contains” option to conduct a search, the results will include all trademarks that contain the keyword you entered.
However, if you select the “Match With” option, the results will only include trademarks that match the searched keyword.
Search Results
To view the search results, enter all required information and then click the “Start Search” button. The essential information about each trademark, such as the S. No., On the table, pictures and matching trademarks will be displayed. Click the selection box in S. No. to see all of the results. for the trademark you selected, or look at the box in the upper left corner. Click the “report” button to view all trademark results in detail after checking the boxes.
If a search turns up no other trademarks that are similar, the trademark can be filed.
Phonetic search:
With the exception of the prefix method, conducting a phonetic search follows the same procedure as a wordmark search. The phonetic search of the trademark can therefore be carried out in a manner that is comparable to that which was previously mentioned.
Vienna code search
Most of the time, the Vienna code search is used to find device marks that are similar. After selecting the appropriate class, one must enter the six-digit Vienna code into the field labeled “Vienna code.” All of the marks that contain the device will be displayed in the result table following the search.
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