A Trademark is a type of Intellectual Property that protects names and other marks associated with a particular product or company. A trademark can be a wordmark, logo, combination of letters and numerals, shape of goods, packaging, or combination of colors or any combination thereof which identifies products or services of a particular source from others.
A trademark owner can be an individual, firm, company, society, or any legal entity. A trademark may be located on a package, a label, on an Invoice, or on the product itself.
An applicant can write TM on the logo/wordmark after filing the trademark application. The symbol ® which indicates that the trademark is registered can be used after successful registration of the trademark.
It is common for a business owner to use multiple trademarks for their goods, alongside a shared mark that represents their enterprise, known as a house mark. This helps indicate that the goods originate from the same business, ensuring consistency and reinforcing the brand’s identity. A trademark is valid for 10 years, after that registration has to be renewed for another 10 years.