A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises”- WIPO It confers upon the holder, an exclusive right to use a word or device to distinguish his products from those of others. Section 2(1) (zb) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 defines a trademark as “a mark capable of being represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one person from those of others.” Section 2(1)(m) defines a ‘mark’ as “a device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter, numeral, shape of goods, packaging or combination of colors or any combination thereof.” More Details:- https://www.biswajitsarkar.com

1. Trademarks

2. Introduction
• “A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from
those of other enterprises”- WIPO
• It confers upon the holder, an exclusive right to use a word or device to distinguish his
products from those of others.
• Section 2(1) (zb) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 defines a trademark as “a mark capable of
being represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of
one person from those of others.”
• Section 2(1)(m) defines a ‘mark’ as “a device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature,
word, letter, numeral, shape of goods, packaging or combination of colours or any
combination thereof.”

3. Essentials of a Trademark
 It must be a mark.
 It must be capable of being represented graphically.
 ‘Graphical representation’ - Rule 2(1) (k) of Trademark Rules, 2017 as
representation of a trademark for goods or services represented or capable of being
represented in paper form and include representation in digitized form.
 It must be capable of distinguishing good and services of one person from those of
others.
 It should be used or proposed to be used mark in relation to goods or services.

4. Types of Trademarks
Trademark
Types
Suggestive
Marks
Generic
Marks
Fanciful
Marks
Descriptive
Marks
Arbitrary
Marks
Wordmarks
Device/
Figurative
Marks

5. Unconventional trademarks
• Unconventional trademarks are those trademarks which get recognition for their inherently distinctive feature.
Unconventional
Trademark
Colour Mark Sound Mark Smell Mark Shape Mark

6. TRADEMARK CLASSES IN INDIA
India follows the international classification of goods and services called the NICE Classification.
"Nice Classification (NCL) is an international system used to classify goods and services for the purposes
of registration of marks. [It] was established by the Nice Agreement in 1957 and is continuously revised
by the Committee of Experts of the Nice Union.” (WIPO)
Under the classification, goods and services have been classified into 45 different Classes that are
divided from 1 to 35 for goods and 36 to 45 for services.

7. Trademark Registration
• Trademark application can be filed under the Chapter III of the Trademark Act,1999.
• Statutory protection of trademark rights in India is administered by the Office of the
Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, a government agency which
reports to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, under the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry.

8. Registrability of a Trademark
• Once a trademark reaches the examination stage, objections may be
raised on two grounds: absolute and relative. The Absolute and
Relative grounds for Refusal of a Trademark have been provided under
Section 9 and 11 respectively.

9. Registrability of Trademark
Section 9- Absolute Grounds
• Not Distinctive
• Descriptive
• Generic words
• Deceptive
• Hurt religious susceptibilities
• Obscene words
• Prohibited
Section 11- Relative Grounds
• Identical or similar to an earlier
trademark
• Identical or similar to a Well-Known
Trademark
• Usage is prevented by the law of Passing
off
• Usage is prevented by the law of
copyright

10. Benefits of
Trademark
Registration
Section 28 of the Act confers
certain benefits on the
registration if a trademark.
Right to Exclusive use.
Right to seek Statutory
remedy against
infringement.

11. Thank You