Your company’s logo, brand, design, and symbol is an intricate part of your business. It is the most important asset of your business. Therefore, it is equally important for your company to trademark as it confers ownership and it would mean no other businesses can mislead your clients or customers to their direction.
Why Trademark is Important
Understanding Trademark
Identity
Trademark identifies your mark, logo, phrase, name, design, word, or symbol different from all other products and gives your company exclusive rights to use it. The 2019 Act also makes it possible to register sound, colour, shape, scent, hologram, positioning, sequence of motion, shape of goods or their packaging or any combination thereof that are are capable of being represented graphically and capable of distinguishing goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings. Essentially it recognises the identity of your product and preserves your company’s rights and exclusivity to use it subject to renewing it every 10 years.
Resources
In establishing a company or producing a product, a significant amount of money, resources and time would have gone in designing the logo, product and catch phrases that the company intends to use. These efforts are put in to distinguish your brand from others in the market to attract customers or clients. Trademark should be considered your company’s most valuable asset.
Usage
However, without registering the trademark, anyone with malicious intent can copy your trademark and use it. In simpler words, it can be considered as identity theft of your company. You can enforce your exclusive rights over your trademark by initiating an action at High Court. However, if the person who copied your trademark mischievously registers your trademark, registration takes precedence as the date of filing of application for registration is deemed to be the date of registration, irrespective of priority claim. Therefore, it is prudent to register your trademark soonest possible.
Legal Recourse
The benefits of registering the trademark accords the rightful owner to enforce their rights against any third party who infringed their trademark by:
• By applying a Trade Description Order (“TDO”) at the Court, the TDO declares that the usage of your registered trademark by the infringer is a false trade description and with this order, the officers of the Ministry can seize goods affixed with the trademarks and prosecute the infringer;
• By lodging a complaint at the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism (“MDTCC”). Upon receipt of the complaint, a raid and seizure action will be conducted. The Public Prosecutor may prosecute the infringer.
• By applying a Trade Description Order (“TDO”) at the Court, the TDO declares that the usage of your registered trademark by the infringer is a false trade description and with this order, the officers of the Ministry can seize goods affixed with the trademarks and prosecute the infringer;
• By lodging a complaint at the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism (“MDTCC”). Upon receipt of the complaint, a raid and seizure action will be conducted. The Public Prosecutor may prosecute the infringer.
Timing
It is advisable to register the Trademark immediately after setting up your company. In most instances, companies only intend to register their Trademark when the company or product line flourishes. This is the wrong mindset as there are trademark squatters or imposters that can at any time misuse your Trademark to divert your clients to their business.
International Recognition
At MyTrademark we are able to protect their marks across 121 countries which are member states of the Madrid system by filing one application. It would be great for your business to get the international recognition it deserves. In addition, it would also save your company the trouble of applying to individual countries for the trademark.