Registering a trademark is an important process to protect your brand and gain exclusive rights on the name or slogan used for business. Whether you are an individual, LLP or company to register your brand it is necessary for you to understand the documents required so that process of trademark registration can be done smoothly. This article explains DBAA and gives a short checklist, about what we need paperwork you should have; how attorneys or agents are basically needed in the process along with a little profitability for MSMEs but also startups.
Understanding the Role of Attorneys and Agents in Trademark Registration Kolkata:
Registering a trademark in Kolkata, it’s common to enlist service of a trademark registration lawyer. If an agent is filing on your behalf, you’ll need to provide a Letter of Authorization. When you hiring a Trademark Registration Lawyer in Kolkata a Power of Attorney (POA) is required. This POA must be signed on a ₹100 stamp paper and duly notarized.
General Attorneys and Agents:
The most common for any application to be made, a trademark agent or attorney is normally taken recourse to. A Letter of Authorization if you are using the services of a trademark agent (on white paper) to act on your behalf. But in case where you opt for a trademark attorney than a Power of Attorney (POA) be executed. This POA should be a notarized one, has to done on ₹100 stamp.
What is required — a Logo Mark or Word Mark.
The class of a trademark you’re filling will dictate the documents needed. If requesting a logo mark or device, you must supply the logo. Just leave the logo out if you are only filing a word mark It is to be Note that there Is No Requirement of Aadhaar or PAN Card for Filing your Trademark. These documents will not be published publicly, however you may have your agent or attorney request this information to ensure that they are accurate.
Docs Required for Companies and LLP:
There is some extra documentation required for you if your firm type — Private Limited Company or LLP. You can file the trademark by submitting a Board Resolution along with the incorporation certificate of the company and resolve that our Company finally decided to filed this Trademark. These are must required documents for the registrations of a company.
Filing Categories: Proposed to be Used vs User Detail
The key two categories while registering a trademark, Proposed to Be Used and User Details.
Intended Use: Businesses that are not yet using the mark but wish to protect their plans for a future use.
In the case where you have already been using a brand name, you will file under this category which will allow to assert your rights over that particular name. In the case, you will have to give an affidavit on a ₹100 stamp paper which says about your trademark usages. You will also need to provide evidence, suchjson invoice or any funeralprogram social media url s of the brand name published online with dates.
If you filed under the Proposed to Be Used category at first, you will be required soon after that to demonstrate use of your trademark and pay ₹900 in government fees for updating the register.
Grace Period for the ‘Proposed to Be Used’ Category:
Please keep in mind that you can not prolong the status ‘Proposed to Be Used’ forever. For this category, Trademark Registry provides a window of five years to keep a trademark. If you do not evidence use of your mark after 5 years, the trademark becomes subject to cancellation. This time limit also prevents unused trademarks from being held indefinitely by a single owner and allows other both equal opportunity to obtain an available name that they may have interest in using.
Government Fees and MSME/Start up Discounted Rates
However, for LLPs/private limited companies/partnership firms the government fee is ₹9,000 in case of trademark registration. The MSME certificate or Startup India Certificate will get a 50% waiver and your proposal fee is ₹9000 which become to only ₹4500. That is a big break for SMBs and startups seeking to safeguard their IP.
In conclusion, trademark registration is the art of documentation. The legal files you must have however include power of attorneys (POAs), affidavits, evidence of use documents – be it through an agent or attorney. In case of Companies / LLP you need to have incorporation certificate and Board Resolution ready. On the other hand, it can also become more affordable when you are using subsidies for MSMEs and startups. When you know these needs, you will be able to protect your brand as well and can register the legal ownership at a trademark.
