It is a very well accepted fact that trademarks are an important aspect of a business as they prove to be distinctive features of a business. With a single glance at a trademark or logo, the customer immediately associates it with a certain proprietor. It might be the logo, its design, or its color scheme. Consumers do not need to read the words to comprehend their meaning; a single glance should be enough to convey the message. For instance, the shoe brand Nike does not usually have the words in its emblem, yet the majority of the people recognize it.
It is essential to understand the need for a ‘smart’ and ‘attractive’ trademark or logo for a business.
- Mark of standard and quality: A trademark may transmit information about the product's standard and quality to customers. For instance, a glance at the Rolex emblem tells that it is a high-end luxury item manufactured to stringent quality standards. Rolex’s reputation may be put at stake if its name or logo gets associated with any other company. Trademarks usually safeguard the quality that a brand represents.
- Consumer recognition: A trademark indicates to customers that a product meets certain specific features. By registering a trademark, the owner of a registered mark can restrict others from using it, which keeps buyers informed about the goods. For instance, Lux is a soap brand that has been advertised in India as a ’beauty soap.' If any other soap brand chooses to use the same trademark, it may mislead purchasers, who may wind up paying for something they didn't want.
- Building identity in the market: It might take years of marketing to convince people to accept and use a company’s products. Certain businesses have trademarks that have been in use for many years and have an unbeatable reputation. Thus, it is critical for firms that possess such trademarks to safeguard them against unauthorized usage in order to maintain their reputation amongst the customers, competitors, and market at large. Since 1366, the Belgian beer manufacturer Stella Artois has used the same logo essentially unchanged, due to which an unshakable reputation is attributed to its name.
- Financial benefits: Trademarks increase a company's worth and recognition. As a result, a firm with well-established trademarks and brands has a favorable market reputation. Additionally, it simplifies the process of raising capital via the stock market or borrowing from lenders in order to grow into international markets.
Certain well-known brands also have logos and marks with which they are associated. These marks are known majorly by their logos rather than their names:
(1)
Consumers keen on online shopping and self-care will be well aware about this brand. It is the logo of a successful start-up ‘Nykaa’, an Indian e-commerce company founded in the year 2012. Their logo has gained popularity and the letter ‘N’ in a pink background is often associated with this brand.
(2)
A black circle with a yellow/green filling within is what denotes the popular rickshaw and cab aggregator, ‘OLA’. The logo comprises of their initial ‘O’ along with the colours of a traditional taxi, yellow and black. It is a smart logo to denote the type of services the business is engaged in.
(3)
Amazon, one of the most popular e-commerce businesses has an equally popular logo. The mark of Amazon has a unique meaning to it, if seen closely, one can witness the arrow below the word Amazon start with the letter ’A’ and stretching up to the letter ‘Z’. It is assumed that the arrow denotes that Amazon has all the possible products available for its consumers of sale.
*We claim no copyright rights in the above images. They have been used for representational and academic purposes only.
Trademark Filing Trends in India
According to a report released by the Indian Trademark Registry, during the period 2018 - 2019, a total of 3,23,798 trademark applications were filed with the Indian Trademark Registry. The number of trademark registrations reflected an increase of 5.3%
India is drastically transforming with respect to securing its intellectual property and the aforesaid figures are a testimony of the same. More and more IP companies and industries are emerging and now even Startups in India have commenced IP filings with an increased awareness with respect to IP protection.
Trademarks provide consumers and manufacturers with a number of advantages in terms of quality, reputation, and turnover. Hence, the majority of businesses desire to protect their trademarks against infringement and avoid any resultant financial loss
