Trademark and Copyright for Indian Businesses

This article explains how the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and the Copyright Act, 1957 protect different business assets in India, where the two overlap, and the order in which a business should secure its rights.

Businesses often assume that incorporating a company, buying a domain name or commissioning a logo has secured the brand. Advisers are asked to correct that assumption at the point of registration, financing or dispute, and the advice depends on classifying each asset correctly.

Questions a client asks

What is the working difference between the two rights?

Ask what the asset does. If it tells customers whose goods or services they are dealing with, it is a trademark matter. If it is original creative expression, it is a copyright matter. A single asset, such as a logo, can be both.

What does trademark law cover?

A trademark is a sign that distinguishes the goods or services of one business from those of others: a brand name, logo, label, product name or a distinctive slogan. It is governed by the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

A valid registration gives the proprietor statutory rights over the registered mark for the goods or services covered, subject to the Act's conditions. Registration lasts ten years and is renewable for further periods of ten years. An unregistered mark may still be protected through an action for passing off, but registration generally makes the rights clearer and easier to prove.

Registration is by class of goods or services. One registration does not cover every product line, so expansion into a new category calls for a fresh review.