Benefits of Trade Mark Registration

Registering your trade mark creates an official record of your rights as owner of a particular trade mark and makes it easier to prevent others from using it.

• trade mark registration grants a statutory right, subject to certain conditions, to prevent others from using the trade mark without the registered proprietor's permission - i.e. to prevent infringement.
• registration confers an exclusive right to authorise others by means of licensing to use the trade mark for the goods and /or services for which the trade mark is registered.

You should consider registering your trade mark if it is important to you that your customers are able to distinguish your products and services from those of your competition. Unauthorised use of a mark means the rightful owner may lose business and goodwill. Although registration is not obligatory, registration makes it easier to prevent others from benefiting from the reputation established by the use of a trade mark by allowing the proprietor of the registered trade mark to take infringement proceedings before the court.

The fraudulent application or use of a trade mark in relation to goods without the authorisation of the proprietor and/or the possession of goods or material bearing a mark identical to or nearly resembling a registered trade mark, may in certain circumstances, be a criminal offence, and criminal proceedings may be initiated under the Trade Marks Act, 1996.