Who can obtain a trademark

Trademarks are used to protect brands, slogans at all from copying or plagiarism. Any individual, organisation or not-profit organisations can file for trademark application and obtain it.

For all these entities, there are different criteria before they can be awarded trademark registration.

If the applicant is an individual

An individual not involved in any commercial business is free to file for trademark registration and obtain it provided he has plans of using that symbol or mark in future. And also in such cases, the application requires ton have the full name of the individual on the form.

Joint Owners

When two persons decide to file for a trademark, both their names must be there on the application form for the trademark registration.

Proprietorship Firm

When a firm decides to file a trademark registration, the full name of the proprietor must be there on the form. The name of the business or proprietorship name is not accepted as the name of the individual. This is because the name of the business or the proprietorship is usually in the form of alias.

One point to be noted here is that if the name of the business or the proprietorship is mentioned on the application form in addition of the name of the applicant, the detail will be kept separately for records.

Partnership Firms

If a partnership firm files for trademark, names of all the partners must be mentioned on the application form because such firms are not considered separate legal entity. Another thing to be noted here is that if the firm consists of a minor as one of the partners, his/her guardians name must be there on the application.

Limited Liability Partnership

If a Limited Liability Partnership seeks to register for trademark, the application shall be named in the name of LLP. A LLP has its own separate entity, thus the names of the partners on the application form does not suffice.

Indian Company

If a private limited company, a one person company or a limited company files for trademark application, it must be done in the name of the company. Since companies are incorporated bodies, they carry an identity of their own.

Hence the top brasses such as the director of the company cannot file for the application in their own name. Hover, it is the director whose signature is needed on the application form.

Foreign Company

If a foreign company wishes to apply for trademark, the application must be done under its registered name if the foreign land. Here some specific details are needed, such as the nature of the registration, the country the company is from. And also if the company does not have a principal place of business in India, the address for service in India must be written there in the form.

Trust Registration or Society Registration

If a trust or a society makes an application for trademark, the name of the managing trustee or the chairman, or the secretary of the society must be there on the application.

Author: Dushyant Sharma

Hey there, I'm Dushyant Sharma. With the extensive knowledge I've gained in past 8 years, I have been creating content on various subjects such as banking, insurance, telecom, and all the important registration and licensing processes for various companies. I'm here to help everyone with my expertise in these areas through my articles.