Building a brand is not an easy task. It takes a lot of time, money, effort, and other resources to build a brand that stays in the mind of your consumers forever. The problems never stop though, at first the business owners focus on building a brand and then when you do build a famous brand, you need to focus on protecting its identity. Today, when technological development gives access to everything and anything, brand registration is one simple way that business owners can assure the protection of their brands. In this blog, we will take a look at all the varied reasons why brand registration is a must.
Provides Exclusive Rights
Once your brand is registered, the owner of the trademark gets the exclusive right to own, use, and destroy the said mark or brand name. This gives you the right to protect your brand from third-party infringement. Anyone desirous of wanting to use your brand must have the permission of the owner, ie., before they can lawfully use your brand name. If they fail to seek such permission, you can take legal action against them.
Build a Unique Brand Identity
When you opt for brand registration by way of a trademark, you get exclusive ownership of your mark. Now, no one can use the brand name that you are using. This gives your brand the chance to be unique. For example, there is only one brand named Nike, and whenever we witness some other brands such as Nile, Nice, etc. trying to impersonate NIKE, it’s easy to figure out that someone is trying to copy a certain brand. This is the level of uniqueness brand registration can create in the market.
Protection from Infringement
When a brand starts becoming famous, there are people out there waiting to mooch your success. You will find replicas of Reebok, Adidas, and Versace on the streets. However, did you know that all these brands have the right to stop all the street vendors of first copies because the owners of the brands have exclusive rights over their brand because of brand registration?
So, whenever someone tries to infringe the name or style of Reebok, Reebok can easily stop them from doing so by filing a suit of infringement against the infringing parties.
Get money from licensing
Brand collaborations are becoming one of the fastest ways of reaching out to new audiences. When another business wants to use your brand name or brand identity in order to also simultaneously promote their own products, you can license your IP rights and gain money from licensing. When you do this, you not only expose your brand to a wider audience, but you also allow yourself to gain profits.
Increases Brand Value
We give utmost importance in life to various certifications. Especially while conducting a purchase of goods or services, the consumers are obviously looking for well-established businesses. Having a governmental certification not only makes your brand more unique, but it increases the credibility and originality of your brand in the eyes of the customers. Especially considering the fact that trademark registration is only available to
Helps in Saving Money
Compared to other forms of intellectual property, trademarks are comparatively cheaper registrations. Hence, when you register your brand as a trademark, you not only protect your brand identity but also save yourself from having to invest in other expensive Intellectual properties.
Intangible Asset of firm
Trademarks are intangible assets of a firm, just like all other intellectual property rights. According to this, the expense you do behind the registration of a trademark can be shown in the balance sheet of your company as an ‘Asset’.
Need of Investors, Partners, etc.
With development, there is an increase in awareness about various intellectual properties and the rights associated with them. All stakeholders of the commerce industry have started giving utmost importance to IP registrations and more. Nowadays the majority of stakeholders demand a registration certificate, or proof before they enter into any business relationships. The list of such stakeholders include consumers, investors, business partners, etc. This makes the process of brand registration a dire need of the hour.
Establishes legal ownership
Once the brand registration process is complete, the owner receives a certificate of brand registration. This certificate acts as legal proof of ownership of the mark. This certificate will give you the entire legal backup in any matter related to the ownership of the brand name. When there are any disputes, the onus of proving the legality of the brand shifts to the party not having the brand registration certificate.
Registered symbol helps in marketing
Even the general public is aware that the R mark means a brand name is registered. So, having a registered mark is a boon for the business. Because the r mark is a major factor in attracting traction for your brand. People are more likely to be attracted to government-recognised brands.
Conclusion
Now we are aware that brand registration comes with an exclusive right of usage, becomes proof of legal ownership, increases the scope of business and brand value, retains your brand’s identity in the minds of the consumers, and also helps you benefit monetarily by way of licensing! We know that trademark registration in India is very important today. The entire process takes more than 12 months to complete and hence, even though it is an easy DIY registration, it’s advisable to process trademark applications through certified professionals.
