Introduction

Nowadays, a large number of companies have started obtaining a trademark registration.  Getting your trademark registered takes a long period of time in India. Sometimes this time period exceeds from 12 to 18 months. It’s a long wait period for every company, therefore, many firms start using their trademark even before getting the registration. Using trademark before the completion of registration process involves a risk as trademark application can be rejected at any stage of time.

Once your application gets rejected your companies name will be under threat. All your power, time, efforts and money will be wasted. So, to make your brand’s trademark successful you should be careful while selecting symbol or name for your company. Avoid using copied names or symbols. In this article, you will come to know about various reasons that why your trademark application get rejected. Some of them are mentioned below.

Various reasons for rejection of the trademark application  as follows:

Generic terms

 There are certain generic terms which should be avoided in your trademark name. These terms are those which are common in use and on which no one has control. For example chairs, tables are generic terms which should not be used. Further, those words should not be used which are found in the dictionary of the states particular language. This procedure will help you with the acceptance of your application.

Descriptive terms

There are certain descriptive terms which also should be avoided in your application. Descriptive terms are those terms which describe the product in a very fancy or brighter ways such as the use of words best, classic, awesome etc. Further, those words that are adjectives should also be avoided. For example cold, rapid etc words should not be used. For example, if the word yummy is used for any food material then its chances of being rejected are more as it will lead to protest from other manufacturers.

Deceptive terms

Deceptive terms are those terms which are not correct. Using these kinds of words leads to misleading the consumer and the consumers feel cheated as the product purchased don’t have same features which were shown before. For example, many cloth manufacturers use the term on their trademark which relates to a particular nature or origin such as Kashmiri shawls. Using these kinds of words or symbols may lead to rejection of the application by the authority. Every company must take care of these terms as unhappy consumers are not good for the goodwill of the company.

Offensive terms

No company or manufacturer should use any term or symbol which is offensive to any religion or caste. It should not hurt the sentiments of people. No abusive or vulgar language should be used. The mark should be morally correct in the eyes of society. Marks with offensive terms often leads to rejection.

Official terms

No official terms should be used in your trademark. Official terms should not have any official names, a symbol of flags and emblems of states. Using these kinds of terms or symbols leads to rejection of the application.

Avoid the rejection of Trademark application

  • Every company should make sure that they do not use any of the above terms in their trademarks.
  • Mark should be unique and expressive.
  • The mark selected should not be similar to existing registered mark.

For any help regarding the trademarks, consult Legalraasta.