Why You Should Register A Trademark and How to Do It

Having a trademark registered is very important and is a big necessity for the existence and development of a business. Building a brand normally should start with a registered mark. Having one makes it easier for people to identify your brand hence increasing your reputation and value over time.

The importance

Trademark registration is essential because it allows you to possess intellectual property rights and protect the identity of your brand and business. After you register trademark, you are allowed to take legal actions against other parties who may use identical signs that may confuse customers and cause damage to your brand. For your Singapore business needs, it is best to consult an IP agent to assist you in the process.

Brand name registry is very important especially when it comes to protecting intellectual property (IP). IP includes all ideas and inventions that spur from human creativity and/or intellect. Some examples are music, inventions, discoveries, literature, symbols, and etc. The protection of IP pushes people to create greater amounts of goods and products, knowing that their creations have both a moral value and economic incentive.

Although to register trademark in Singapore may take months, it is still very much a reasonable investment in the long term because a registered trademark will be valid for 10 years from the time your application is accepted.

Registering a trademark

To create a TM involves procedure. Before everything else, it is important to do a trade mark search before you trademark Chinese words. Doing this is practical for the reason that you actually cannot refund the money you pay for registration. To guarantee that you don’t infringe on the rights of others, consult an experienced Chinese registration agent in Singapore to make sure that the trademark you are proposing to use does not have any similarities with already existing trademarks, at least in your field of business. Aside from guaranteed brand protection, this will also help you save time and money because you don’t have to repeat procedures when you make mistakes.

For registering a trademark, services and goods are specified in different classes. Typically, everything starts with a trademark application form in each class. If your brand offers different services, then they will be classified per class accordingly. But, the advantage of this multi-class system though, is that only one registration is required for all services and goods belonging to a trademark. With that, application forms don’t necessarily have to be submitted for each class, rather for the trademark as a whole.

The cost of filing a trademark in Singapore is normally S$341, but is still subject to increase or decrease depending on classes. Application for renewal, application for revocation, filing of notice of opposition, and other descriptions also charge different fees per class.

In Trademark Registration, you also need to conceptualise your business identity for your Singapore brand. This may involve hiring a graphic artist to have a unique and appropriate logo design, or you can always opt to create your own logo.

In summary, trademark registration will help you protect your brand and solidify your business’ identity. It gives you the right to claim your own intellectual property and have exclusive use of the brand/mark and all services and goods belonging to it. It also allows you to oppose other parties that may try to create similar symbols and even use your mark (if unregistered) for the benefit of their own business. So, go ahead and register your trademark now!