- Written by Hajra Abdul Ghafoor
Are you tangled in the list of labels and symbols? Do you find the variety of symbols confusing or have you given up your search to know which one is which and are still making the errors when it comes to labelling your brand? Then, hold my beer (well, coffee in my case) and let me give you the easiest way out of these mysteries!
So, why the need to know about these symbols?
I am not urging you to stay at the top of your game because trust me, this is just level 1 and champion’s category is a long way but no need to lose hope as no one becomes a master in a day.
But the question still stays, why do we need to know these terms?
Well, this is an era of enormous agility and changes so, imagine yourself coming up with an original idea, you gather your resources and work so hard to achieve your goal but when it comes to branding your idea and giving a name to it, you have to know some legal basis and legislative perspective on the product. In that case, legal assistance would help you reach your potential and help branding your name, you apply for your product registration and are given with some kind of a label, that’s the moment you cherish your success and promote your product but in the midst of all this, somebody else comes up with the same idea and implementation, you are confident that you have the ownership of the product but turns out you still do not have the complete authority over your product and this is a messed up situation for you. So, what went wrong?
You ask the same question to a legal advisor and he tells you that your product was unregistered and was only yet trademarked!
The symbol that you were using with your product at the time was for a trademarked product but not for a product that’s being registered!
So yes, everything is messed up because you mixed up!
There are situations where mixing up your symbols can lead to drastic consequences in our day to day life:
- People can be deceived by fake brands that have almost the same name and apparent “features” as their favourite brands.
- When you apply for a product for trademark registration and perceive that symbol as verified but only get to know its impact when a rival comes into play and claims a registered objection on the trademark (as explained earlier).
- When you name your product in the name of an existing brand or close to that and see the trademark label as the permit to promote it.
So, let us dive into the real difference between these two and see for our self!
It would be easier to see the real impact and differences if catered in tabular form.
TRADEMARK SYMBOL ™
- Any distinctive name, symbol, or word is designated as trademarked with the symbol ™.
- This trademark does not protect the company from another company that produces a similar product or uses a similar name.
- The trademark designation notifies others that the product’s name and design are the company’s property.
REGISTERED SYMBOL:
- A registered trademark is designated with the symbol ®.
- With a registration, a trademark is protected against another company’s use of the name or image. A registered trademark is a federal and legal registration of the mark.
- A registered trademark is a federal and legal registration of the mark. Any future companies wishing to register its own design/name/image has to check to be sure that it is not like any registered trademarks.
Another important factor worth keeping in mind is, the temporal gap between both the labels, known as the approval period. Initially, when applying for trademark registration, you will be able to use trademark symbol ™ with your product until the product is registered or after winning against the objection raised by any rival parties and only then you can be permitted to use the registered symbol ®.
Once we get to know that, it is important to refer to this article because the time in the approval will be quality and worth it only if your trademark is original and unique to make up to the distinctive list.
Hope you found what you were looking for. If you have any queries, we at ONE IP INTERNATIONAL are always there for your help. Contact our team for any kind of assistance. We would be glad to be of any service!
