Trademark Registration of a Company Slogan | IP Attorney in Delhi NCR | IP Lawyer in Delhi NCR |
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A brand’s intellectual responsibility is carried by its slogan. Slogans convey the business’s message alongside the brand, and are sometimes as important as or more important than the brand. Slogans, also known as tag lines, give a business or brand appeal a glow. Currently various companies are trying to be creative and are trying their hands on making their slogan catchy so that the consumer can never forget their brand. There are a lot of brands which have catchy phrases that nobody forgets Ex: The Good knight’s liquid vaporizer for mosquito’s comes with the tag line “push karo kush raho” has become a famous household term, customers can also associate themselves with the brand by just the slogan used. So in order to have exclusive rights over the slogan and protect it from other competitors in the market, Godrej will definitely want to have trademark rights on it.
Can I register a trademark of my Company slogan?
Now coming to the statute, under the Trademark Act of 1999, a slogan is very well protected under Section 2(m) as it considers a label or a heading as a mark and Section 2(z)(b) defines that a mark should be something which is capable of distinguishing the goods/services in the market this also includes packaging as well. Thus it is safe to say that the response to the above question is unmistakably yes, but then there are some conditions. Yes, because slogans are capable of graphically representing and separating one product from another, and most importantly establishes a link with the individual selling the product through the slogan. Ex: “finger licking good” make one think about KFC company and it makes KFC product distinguished from another. In the case of Procter & Gamble Manufacturing v. Anchor Health & Beauty Care Pvt Ltd. (FAO (OS) No. 241/2014) the Hon’ble Delhi High Court highlighted the importance of a slogan in connection to a brand and discussed about its long lasting effect in the minds of the customer and further held that slogans are protected under the Trademark Act of 1999.
The very fact that slogans used should not be descriptive in nature and ought to be distinctive was discussed in this particular case of Stokely Van Camp Inc v. Heinz India Pvt Ltd. (CS (OS) No. 514/2010) the Hon’ble Delhi High Court held that, despite being a registered slogan label, the trade slogan “Rehydrate Replenish Refuel” used in relation to Gatorade cannot be granted protection because it has become customary and in fact mandatory to define goods as such in the energy drink industry. As a result, the Court determined that the defendant’s use of the phrase “Rehydrates fluids, replenishes essential salts, Recharges glucose” falls under Section 30 (2)(a) of the Trademarks Act, which states that a registered trademark is not infringed when the allegedly infringing mark/expression is used to denote features and characteristics of the items.
Documents required for the Registration of Trademark over a Company Slogan
The applicant should have the following documents ready when he/she wants to opt for a registration:
a) A JPEG-formatted soft copy of the logo
b) TM 48 (Form of Authorization).
c) The date on which the trademark was first used.
d) The mark’s owner’s name and address
e) The required trademark registration fee
But then one must keep it in mind that slogans differ from logos and word marks in that they contain one or more words, while logos and word marks do not. Slogans will be evaluated in the same way as word marks are, with the individual having to show that the slogan has acquired distinctiveness.
As a result, brand taglines in India have been recognised as trademarks if they have gained distinctiveness through goodwill and secondary significance. Trade slogans can also be used to identify specific commercial characteristics of a brand’s goods and services.
Can a Company Slogan be Protected under the Copyright Act of 1957?
Yes, slogans can seek protection under the Copyright Acts as they fall under literary works and section-2(O) of the Act specifically mentions about slogans being protected under the literary works. But then the Courts do have different interpretation for slogans when it comes under Copyright laws in the case of Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. v. Dharmpal Satyapal & Anr (CS (OS) No. 865/2012) the Hon’ble Delhi High Court held that the slogan were common words and not protectable as Copyright under literary work. Therefore, rejecting a slogan on the basis of being collection of works and ignoring the creativity and originality aspect should not be the ground for extending protection to Slogans. It is always good to protect one’s slogan not only under the trademark law but also to protect it under the copyright laws
Authored By: Adv. Anant Sharma & Swayamsiddha Das