Trademarks act as the lungs of advertising or promoting a brand. Companies by providing satisfactory goods and services stand out in the market, earn goodwill and register their trademark for their consumers to distinguish its product from other products in the market. Considering the main aim of registering a trademark, which is to protect the goodwill and authenticity of a company and it’s product, the scope of what constitutes a trademark has been expanding as per the need of the hour.
Traditionally trademarks comprise visible signs such as letter, word, brand, name, signature, device, heading but as the social media and digital marketing influenced the current market, companies have changed their way of approach towards marketing and are gradually shifting towards non-visible signs. Non- visible signs such as sound and scent are considered as non-conventional trademarks and can be registered under Trademarks Act, 1999. Though the Act states that a trademark means any mark that is graphically represented to distinguish goods or services of one person from another, non-conventional trademarks will fall under this ambit though they might not be graphically represented. Shape of goods, packaging and combination of colours shall also be entitled as non-conventional trademarks.
Stay tuned for our next update on the Types of Non Traditional Marks!
