Trademark Investigation in India

In the corporate world, a company registers for a trademark with the Registrar of Trademarks (RoT). The said mark becomes the company’s trading symbol, which means it iconizes a company into a mascot or an image. This iconized mark is then labelled on the products and services of the company to give them a brand name. After the trademark is registered, the company begins its business operations. But what many of them are unaware that the company has to secure its trademark even after the registration, during the course of its utility. 

A company works hard to build its brand in the market, and the trademark is the pictorial representation of that brand. But someone can use your hard-earned reputation in the market by using your trademark or lookalike to sell their defective products and thereby degrade your brand value. You might even lose your customers. So, constant vigilance is required for the trademark to secure it from theft and plagiarism. Here comes the need for trademark investigation. 

A trademark investigation is carried out on a company accused by or suspected of the trademark owner for counterfeiting its trademark. A company can avail of Trademark investigation services if it is sceptical of anyone who is or can attempt to infringe its registered trademark.

Types of Trademark Investigation Services

Trademark investigation services are majorly of three types:

• Trademark in-use investigation: The ownership of a trademark depends on its usage, and if a trademark owner fails to use the mark, it may result in forfeiture. The new owner can subscribe to trademark in-use investigation services to save itself from future lawsuits to check on this.
• Trademark infringement investigation: If a trademark of close similarity with your registered trademark is present in the international market, the trademark owner can avial of trademark infringement services to know the complete details of the infringer, i.e., its registration with the RoT, area of service, area of applicability, year of establishment, trademark similarity levels etc. By furnishing these details and consulting an expert, the plaintiff can file for infringement case against the accused infringer party.
• Counterfeit investigation: If counterfeit goods are present in the market of a reputed brand, the company can avail of counterfeit investigation services to find out the accused counterfeiter firm and collect evidence against them to file an infringement case against them in a court of law.

Eligibility Criteria For Trademark Investigation

• Any registered trademark owner company can opt for trademark investigation services.
• The applicant company must be clear on the type of service it wants to use with the investigation service provider.
• The applicant must also provide the details of the trademark infringers or potential infringers, from which the risk of trademark counterfeiting is high. The applicant must be sure of the list of potential defaulters it offers to the investigating entity.
• If the infringement is already committed, then the trademark owner must swiftly opt for the trademark investigation services before the infringer and its products damage the reputation of your well-established brand.
• The applicant must conduct thorough research on all the existing trademark investigation service providers, their reputation in the market, and the service charges to make an informed choice for availing of the required service.

Required Documentation

No such special documents are required for opting for trademark investigation services. It would help if you conveyed your authenticity to the investigation service provider. All you have to do is connect with the trademark investigation service provider of your choice, and then they will guide you through the process. 

Process for Trademark Investigation in India

Following is the process of Trademark Investigation

1. Choose the type of trademark investigation
2. Collect the documents
3. Provide us with the documents
4. We will initiate the process of trademark investigation.

Investigation services offered by the Registrationwalas

To avail of the trademark investigation services, you can connect with the Registrationwala. The main purpose of such investigation is to provide concrete evidence of the supposed plaintiff, which supports their infringement accusation. The Registrationwala, upon your brief, will investigate individuals accused of committing fraud on, say, your company name, your registered trademark, or even your domain name and then provide you with sufficient evidence to take the appropriate legal action against the infringer.

Registrationwala believes that the company’s most important commodity is its brand. Any threat made to the company’s intellectual property threatens its authenticity in the market and can make it lose business. Therefore, conducting timely trademark investigations is a wiser thing to do.

If you are interested in such services, you can connect with us for free, as Registrationwala offers free consultations on trademark investigations.

Registrationwala provides a wide range of Intellectual property rights services to the customers in the most time- and cost-effective manner.

Some of our services are listed below:

Investigation services in case of Trademark Counterfeiting & Piracy:

• Trademark Infringement Detection
• Threat Identification
• Undercover Penetration of Infringing Organizations
• Infringement Surveillance
• Cease-And-Desist Letters services
• Acquiring Voluntary Surrender of Counterfeit Materials

Copyright & Patent Investigations:

• Unauthorized Use of Copyright
• Patent Misuse & Infringement
• Industrial Design Misuse
• Integrated Circuit Topography Design Misuse
• Identification of Threats

Trademark Investigations:

• Detection of Infringement
• Identification of Threats
• Date of First Use Determination
• The extent of Usage Determination

Market Surveys & Monitoring:

• Targeted Automated & Manual Searches of Online and Print Sales Portals
• Ongoing & Persistent Monitoring
• Compilation & Analysis of Aggregate Data 

Trademark Investigation (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q. What is a Trademark investigation?

A. A trademark investigation is carried out on a company accused by or suspected of the trademark owner for counterfeiting its trademark. A company can avail of Trademark investigation services if it is skeptical of anyone who is or can attempt to infringe its registered trademark.

Q. Who is a Trademark investigator or a Trademark investigation service provider?

A. A trademark investigator is an entity which provides survelliance and evidence collection services to thew trademark owners who are skeptical that their registered trademark is being infringed or counterfeited in the market by another company.

Q. What are the types of trademark investigation services?

A. Trademark investigation services are major of three types:

1. Trademark in-use investigation
2. Trademark infringement investigation
3. Counterfeiting investigation

Q. What is a Trademark in-use investigation?

A. The ownership of a trademark depends on its usage, and if a trademark owner fails to use the mark, it may result in forfeiture. The new owner can subscribe to trademark in-use investigation services to save itself from future lawsuits to check on this.

Q. What is a Trademark infringement investigation?

A.  If a trademark of close similarity with your registered trademark is present in the international market, the trademark owner can avail of trademark infringement services to know the complete details of the infringer, i.e., its registration with the RoT, area of service, area of applicability, year of establishment, trademark similarity levels etc. By furnishing these details and consulting an expert, the plaintiff can file for infringement case against the accused infringer party.

Q. What is a counterfeiting investigation?

A. If counterfeit goods are present in the market of a reputed brand, the company can avail of counterfeit investigation services to find out the accused counterfeiter firm and collect evidence against them to file an infringement case against them in a court of law.

Q. What documents are required by the investigator from its client to start their investigation services?

A. No such special documents are required for opting for trademark investigation services. It would help if you conveyed your authenticity to the investigation service provider. All you have to do is connect with the trademark investigation service provider of your choice, and then they will guide you through the process.

Q. Who is eligible to avail of Trademark investigation services?

A. 

1. Any registered trademark owner company can opt for trademark investigation services.
2. The applicant company must be clear on the type of service it wants to use with the investigation service provider.
3. The applicant must also provide the details of the trademark infringers or potential infringers, from which the risk of trademark counterfeiting is high. The applicant must be sure of the list of potential defaulters it offers to the investigating entity.
4. If the infringement is already committed, then the trademark owner must swiftly opt for the trademark investigation services before the infringer and its products damage the reputation of your well-established brand.
5. The applicant must conduct thorough research on all the existing trademark investigation service providers, their reputation in the market, and the service charges to make an informed choice to avail of the required service.