TRADE MARK
Trademarks or marks are words, symbols, designs, combinations of letters or numbers, or other devices that identify and distinguish products and services in the marketplace. When trademarks are presented to the public via advertising, marketing, trade shows, or other means, they become one of a company’s most valuable assets—potential customers identify a company by its trademark. Because certain trademarks immediately create an image of quality goods and services to potential buyers, they are valuable assets that should be protected.
When trademarks are registered at the state, federal, or international levels, their owners are provided the maximum legal protection for company names and/or company products. Thus, in creating or selecting company names and trademarks, a major concern is to design names and trademarks that may be registered . Today, the feasibility of designing names for products and services as well as trademarks for them is not likely because millions of trademarks are already registered.
A trademark is a sign that individualizes the goods of a given enterprise and distinguishes them from the goods of others. It can be in the form of words, designs, letters, numerals or packaging, slogans, devices, symbols, etc.
Being a signatory to Trade Related Intellectual property Rights, Agreement (TRIPs) under WTO, Pakistan required up gradation of its intellectual property infrastructure in tandem with global trends. Accordingly the existing legislation on Intellectual Property i.e. Copyrights, Patents and Trademarks has been upgraded and the revised laws have been promulgated.
Trade Marks Registry is working under the administrative control of Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan. The main function of the Registry is to grant protection of trade marks relating to both goods and services through registration under the Trade Marks Ordinance 2001 and Trade Mark Rules 2004. The Trade Marks Registry works like a Civil Court. The Registrar of Trade Marks hears and decides the cases relating to registration, post registration, opposition and rectification matters.
STEPS FOR REGISTRATION
1. Search before filing of Application.
2. Filing of Application.
3. Preliminary Examination.
4. Final order for Publication.
5. Printing in Trademarks Journal.
6. Opposition Procedure.
7. Issuance of Registration Certificate.
8. Renewal of the Registration.
9. Post Registration matters.
10. Rectification Procedure.
Other services
1.Patents:A patent is a grant from the Government, which confers on the grantee, for a limited term of 20 years, the following acts, namely 1) When patents has been granted in respect of a product. 2)When the patents has been granted in respect of a process
2. Copy Rights:Copyright deals with the protection of literary and artistic works. These include writings, music, and works of the fine arts, such as paintings and sculptures, and technology-based works such as computer programs and electronic databases.
3. Industrial Design:An industrial design is the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article, in other words, that part which makes the article attractive & appealing. It may consist of three-dimensional features, such as the shape or surface of an article or two-dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or colors.
4. Integrated Circuits:Integrated circuit means a product, in its final form or an intermediate form, in which the elements, at least one of which is an active element, and some or all of the interconnections are integrally formed in and/or on a piece of material and which is intended to perform an electronic function.
5. Geographical Indications:Geographical Indication in relation to goods, means , an indication which identifies such goods, as originating or manufactured or produced in a territory of a qualifying country or a region or a locality of a qualifying country , where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of such goods, is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.
6. Plant Breeders Rights:A Plant Variety is a plant group within a single botanical tax on of the lowest rank. It can be defined by the expression of the characteristics resulting from given genotype or combination of genotypes; distinguished from any other plant grouping by expression of at least one of those characteristics; considered as a unit with regard to its suitability for being propagated unchanged.