ORIGINALITY RECOGNITION AND BRAND PROTECTION: THE TRADEMARK WAY
Recently, I was driving to a place for a business assignment, so I took a break. I parked my car and looked around. I found a hostel named Kinara. I was relieved, but before I could proceed to Kinara, I realized there was another hotel named Hotel New Kinara. Wow! I was just contemplating which one I should choose. However, before I could decide, I discovered yet another one i.e. Hotel Original Kinara. I decided to just avoid all these and find another hotel. I’m sure most of us have faced similar situations. We can accommodate or handle such situations when we spend a few hundred Rupees. But when you end up buying a flat from the wrong builder thinking of that was the original one then probably you won’t forgive yourself. Confusion of names or brands of builder is a big problem faced by common people.
Trademark protection plays a vital role in safeguarding the brand assets of real estate businesses. By registering brands for essential elements such as logos, slogans, and names, the brand owner secures exclusive rights and prevent unauthorized use. It means that the owner of the registered trademarks has right to enforce their right to stop unauthorized use of their brand name or deceptively similar brand names.
In the bustling real estate market, confusion can arise when multiple businesses adopt similar or identical brands. This confusion not only damages a company’s reputation but also results in loosing opportunities. Unscrupulous individuals may attempt to capitalize on the success of established brands by imitating their logos or similar names. Trademark protection is essential for real estate businesses to combat such infringements and unique identity in market.
It is important to note that the original brand owner will always be able secure the brand registration over non-original. A person who adopts and uses the brand name first will get priority over any other person that has adopted the same or similar brand while registering the brand. Those who are using brand names but have not registered that till today must get the brand registered by proving the prior use.
The trademark registry registers only brands that prove originality in adoption of the brand. Hence dealing with owner of a registered brand gives a confidence to a prospective buyer that he is dealing with the original party. A buyer of a flat in an apartment must make sure that he is dealing with a right builder by checking on the brand, logo registrations, and only after the confirmation of the originality/registration of trademark, he should proceed with booking the flats.
Adv. Anand Mahurkar
Founder, AM Legal Associates.
Note: Author of this article is a lawyer practicing in the field of intellectual property laws.
