There is a similarity between the Trademark and Design Registration. However, there is also a significant difference between Trademark and Design Registration. For any business, both trademark registration and design registration become the face of the business. Furthermore, missing any of these two can result in serious damage to the business. In this article, you will understand the difference between trademark and design registration.
What is Trademark Registration?
Trademark is a mark that distinguishes your business from another. In other words, it is an effective tool that provides unique branding and protection to the products and services that you are offering.
You can register the trademark in India in the following forms.
- Verbal Trademark
- Visual Trademark
- Sound Trademark
- Shapes Trademark
- Olfactory Trademark
- Flavor Trademark
The interesting thing about trademark registration is that a registered trademark provides you with legal protection. In simple words, you get the exclusive rights to use a trademark as your own. You get the complete legal rights to use it, lease it, or resell it. You also get the exclusive right to apply for trademark modification.
What is Design Registration?
Design Registration signifies registering a unique design of your product. In other words, it is the legal protection of the physical appearance of your product.
The design registration provides legal rights to you and hence no one can form identical designs and use them.
Furthermore, The registration of a design offers an entity a Unique Selling Point, which indicates that its product stands apart from the competition.
The following are the goals of Design Registration:
- To create an efficient and useful legal system in the country to safeguard designs from being stolen.
- Encourage and promote individuality and innovation.
- It is a requirement of the WTO Member countries’ compliance with the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreements.
The difference between Trademark and Design Registration
The difference is written below:
| Trademark Registration | Design Registration |
| Trademark Registration Online protects the mark that symbolizes the business. | Design Registration protects the design of the product that your business offers. |
| The applicant’s trademark registration is evaluated depending on the class and name they choose. | The investigating officer evaluates the ingenuity and attractiveness of the item during the design registration process. |
| Trademark Registry or Trademark Registration Office in India regulates the registration of trademarks. | The Patent Office can regulate and authorize matters of Design Registration. |
| Trademark Registration is valid for a single decade and you can renew it afterward for as long as you want. | Design registration is valid for a single decade. However, it can be renewed for five years. |
| The Trademark Act of 1999 protects trademarks. | The Design Act of 2000 ensures that design is safeguarded. |
| A trademark has some legal protections. As a result, under judicial intervention and protection, an unregistered trademark is not rejected. | A Design has some legislative rights as well. These rights, however, are not as robust as trademarks. |
Hence, you now know the difference between Trademark and Design Registration in India. You can choose any or both of these for your business. Both trademark registration and design registration offer you several advantages.
Benefits of Trademark and Design Registration
- When a design is protected, the owner, or the person who owns the registered design, has an exclusive right to prevent a third – party from copying it without permission.
- Design Registration aids the design’s owner in improving the trademark’s economic worth by allowing customers to instantly recognize the appearance and connect it with the artist.
- The cost of trademark registration online and design registration online is quite minimal when compared to the benefits.
- A product must be appealing and distinct from others in order to be registered as a design or trademark, which encourages creativity and increases competition.
Moreover, you require any kind of guidance related to Trademark Registration, please feel free to contact us at 8881-069-069.
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