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    Collective marks are trademarks owned by an organization or association that are used by its members to indicate membership and distinguish their products and services. Some key points: 1. Collective marks can be used by multiple traders that are members of the collective, whereas trademarks usually indicate a single source. 2. Benefits of registering a collective mark include exclusive rights over trademark use, reputation and goodwill building, product uniqueness, and protection against infringement. 3. The registration process for collective marks is similar to trademarks and involves filing an application along with regulations governing mark use and membership conditions. Accepted applications are notified and open to public examination.

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    Collective marks are trademarks owned by an organization or association that are used by its members to indicate membership and distinguish their products and services. Some key points: 1. Collective marks can be used by multiple traders that are members of the collective, whereas trademarks usually indicate a single source. 2. Benefits of registering a collective mark include exclusive rights over trademark use, reputation and goodwill building, product uniqueness, and protection against infringement. 3. The registration process for collective marks is similar to trademarks and involves filing an application along with regulations governing mark use and membership conditions. Accepted applications are notified and open to public examination.

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    10 views5 pages

    What Are Collective Marks in Trade Mark Law

    Uploaded by

    ys5387516
    Collective marks are trademarks owned by an organization or association that are used by its members to indicate membership and distinguish their products and services. Some key points: 1. Collective marks can be used by multiple traders that are members of the collective, whereas trademarks usually indicate a single source. 2. Benefits of registering a collective mark include exclusive rights over trademark use, reputation and goodwill building, product uniqueness, and protection against infringement. 3. The registration process for collective marks is similar to trademarks and involves filing an application along with regulations governing mark use and membership conditions. Accepted applications are notified and open to public examination.

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    What are Collective Marks in Trade Mark Law?

    Introduction

    A collective mark is a trademark owned by an organisation or association and


    used by its members to indicate membership in the group in order to distinguish
    their products and services or to identify themselves with a level of quality,
    accuracy, geographical origin etc. Generally trademarks serve as “badges of
    origin” by indicating the source of the goods or services. Collective marks on
    the other hand can be used by more than one trader or individual concern
    provided that they are the member of the collective. Similar to trademarks,
    collective marks are also in the form of word, symbol, or group of words.

    Examples of collective marks are:

    1. McDonald's®, a trademark of McDonald's Corporation


    2. 100% Recycled Paperboard®, registered by Recycled Paperboard
    Alliance Inc.

    Collective marks are often confused with Certification marks. The fine line
    difference between the two is that the Collective marks are used by the
    members of the collective only, whereas certification marks can be used by
    anybody who complies with the standards defined by the owner of that
    particular Certification mark. For example, any gold jewellery which conforms
    to all the standards laid by Bureau of Indian Standards can have the Hallmark
    on it to show its level of purity, but only people who are members of Institute of
    Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) or Institute of Chartered Accountants of
    India (ICAI) can use the mark of a CS or CA respectively.
    That is why it is always advisable to seek the help of an experienced
    Trademark attorney for registration of your mark.

    Recent Judgement related to Collective Marks

    1. International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) vs


    Iskcon Apparel Pvt. Ltd and Ors: The matter related to a trademark
    infringement and passing off suit against Iskcon Apparel, an apparel
    company, selling products using the brand name ISKCON. The court held
    while taking serious steps against ISKON Apparel for misusing their
    brand name through the civil action that the trademark "ISKCON'' fulfils
    all the requirements stipulated in the TMA and qualifies to be recognized
    as a well-known trademark.

    Benefits of a Collective Trademark

    1. Exclusive Trademark Rights: When it comes to collective trademark


    registration, the business owner secures exclusive rights over the use of
    the trademark. For this reason, the owner has the right to utilise the
    collective mark for all the products produced by his/her business or
    services rendered submitted in the trademark application.

    2. Builds Reputation and Goodwill: A trademark on the product helps build


    brand reputation and generates goodwill. This will further help
    customers identify products accordingly and form trust. Thus, enabling a
    loyal set of customers who will always choose products belonging to one
    particular brand for regular use.

    3. Unique Products: Concerning competition, a good service mark


    registration can help make a service unique and further help in its
    promotion. The trademark will represent the vision or quality of the
    brand, and in turn, help associate the business with it.

    4. Identifies Value: Another benefit of trademark registration of a product


    is that it helps attach identity to the value provided by the product. This
    way, the brand also becomes part of that identity prompting customers to
    associate the same value and draw in new customers or clients. They will
    be able to distinguish the quality of the product by its trademark.

    5. Product Symbol: A registered trademark can use the symbol on its logo to
    communicate that it is part of a registered trademark, and no one can use
    any of its symbols. It is inclusive of its different uses, just as rights. If
    someone replicates the design, logo or symbol then that person can be
    sued by the business.
    6. Protection Against Infringement: Through a product brand name
    registration, the trademark becomes an exclusive right for the business
    owner, in terms of usage. Hence, competitors or individuals cannot use
    the trademark or logo without the endorsement of the business owner.
    Thus registering a product with the help of trademark attorneys helps in
    protecting against infringement of the logo.

    7. 10-Year-Validity: Registered trademarks have a 10-year validity and can


    be renewed indefinitely. It is cost-effective and enables the business to
    create and maintain a unique identity.The trademark renewal process
    can be easy and convenient for the registered users if you seek help of an
    experienced trademark agent around you.

    8. International Collective Mark Registration : To secure a trademark on


    products in foreign countries, the trademark must be applied in that
    respective company. For this reason, the trademark applied in India can
    be used as a premise when applying in other countries. This will be used
    as a base when applying for a trademark in other countries, along with the
    goodwill earned in India.

    Documents Required for Registration of Collective Mark in India

    To file a collective mark application, the following documents are required:


    1. If the applicant is a person: Documents supporting the individual's
    name, address and nationality.
    If the applicant is a company: Documents supporting the country/state
    of incorporation alongside the complete address of the company.
    If the applicant is a partnership firm: Documents supporting all
    partners.

    2. Products to be used in the name of registered trademark


    3. The Trademark to be registered
    4. If a trademark application is filed previously in another country, then
    details such as application number, filing date, country, and
    goods/services. For this, a certified priority document or a notarised copy
    has to be submitted to the Trade Marks Office within two months of
    applying.
    5. In case of application filed in “prior date” use, all the evidence of prior
    usage is to be filed along with an affidavit testifying its use.
    6. In case an application is filed with the help of a trademark attorney, the
    Power of Authorization (POA) needs to be filed with all the other
    mandatory documents.
    7. An authorisation document signed by the authorised signatory or the
    applicant, with the name and designation mentioned on it.
    8. All the documents need to be submitted alongside the TM-A form filed
    for the registration of your mark.

    Registration Process of Collective Mark

    The process for the registration of trademark and a collective mark is similar
    and is provided in section 62 & 63 of The Trade Marks Act, 1999, which lays
    down two essential components for registration of collective mark which are as
    follows:

    1. Intelligible: A collective mark can only be registered if the proposed


    mark is not capable of deceiving or causing confusion or irregularity for
    the general public and further there is no plausibility of being taken as
    something other than a collective mark. However in cases where the
    proposed mark is capable of deceiving or causing confusion or
    irregularity and is likely to be taken as something other than a collective
    mark then the Registrar may require that the proposed mark in respect of
    which application is made shall show some indication that it is a
    collective mark.

    2. Regulation for the mark: An application for registration of a collective


    mark is required to be followed by the regulation that governs the usage
    of such collective mark. The regulation should specify the authorised
    persons to use the mark, the conditions of the membership of the
    collective or association, the conditions to use the mark, sanctions against
    misuse of the mark and such other matters as may be directed.
    Acceptance of Application along with Regulations

    As per section 64 of The Trademarks Act, 1999, if the Registrar is satisfied that
    the conditions for registration are fulfilled, he shall accept the application
    together with the conditions, either unconditionally or subject to such conditions
    including changes of the said regulations, if any, as he may deem fit or refuse to
    accept it and if accepted shall notify the regulations. Section 65 of this provides
    that the regulations shall be open to public examination in the same way as that
    of the register as provided in Section 148.

    Grounds for Removal of Collective Marks

    As per section 68 of The Trademark Act, 1999 a collective trademark can be


    struck from the Trademarks Register for the below mentioned reasons:

    1. For Non-use of the mark as a trademark as per Section 47


    2. Whenever a mark is descriptive, as defined by Section 36

    Infringement of Collective Mark

    As per section 67 of the Trademark Act, 1999, in the event of an infringement a


    lawsuit can be filed by the registered user of the collective mark. Moreover
    while adjudicating the suit the court will take into account the damages of all
    authorised users and not just the registered user of the mark and may impose
    monetary fine to make up for those losses.

    Conclusion

    Collective marks have become an instrument used by consumers to differentiate


    between various brands/companies competing in the sale of similar goods and
    services. Correct use of the collective mark can assist the company in Goodwill
    building in terms of quality, accuracy, origin at an early stage. The trademark
    examination of a collective mark is quite similar to a regular trademark in
    regards to originality, deceptiveness and the confusion that might be faced by a
    consumer; the only difference lies in the usage and the ownership of the two.

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