Understanding the Functions of Trademarks: Protecting Your Brand Identity

Introduction

An effective trademark instills trust in customers, who are thus more likely to continue purchasing the marked items, so strengthening the proprietor’s trademark in the market relative to competing producers. 

Therefore, trademarks are crucial tools for competing in the market. To help you understand the many applications of your trademark, we have compiled a list of their many functions.

Functions of Trademarks

Any word, phrase, logo, or combination of symbols used to identify the source, marketing, sale, or provision of a product or service is considered a trademark. Both domestic and foreign legislation serve to protect trademarks, which fall under the umbrella of intellectual property rights.

Some examples of trademark illustrations include the “Swoosh” logo of Nike, the arching M of McDonald’s, and the bitten apple of Apple Computers.

Any combination of devices, brands, headings, labels, tickets, names, signatures, words, letters, and numbers is considered a “mark” under Section 2(1)(i)(V)(m) of the Trade Marks Act of 1999. Furthermore, the Act’s definition of “mark” encompasses not only the shape of goods but also their packaging, color combinations, and any other type of combination.

1. Product Differentiation Function

To differentiate one product from another, trademarks are the foundational tool. An imperfection in substitutability is what the phrase “product differentiation” describes when consumers purchase goods and services from different vendors in the same industry. 

Consumers often have preconceived notions about products, leading them to buy things they don’t actually need. For instance, they can think he needs “Surf” when in fact it’s a washing powder or that he needs a “Honda” when in fact it’s a motorbike.

There is a set period of time during which patents and industrial designs, which help to distinguish products, are protected. However, trademarks enjoy limitless legal protection, making them an essential part of the differentiating process.

2. Identification of Source and Origin Function

A trademark’s primary role is to enable consumers to know where a product came from, which is crucial information for any business. An abbreviation for “state of the art technology,” “after sales service,” and “warranties,” a trademark suggests the complete set of attributes of a product. 

Consequently, the trademark’s ability to serve as a source of product information is limited. Making a case for doing away with trademarks as a means of product differentiation is still not a good idea.

3. Transformation of origin function

The present role of indication of origin has been revolutionized by brand registration. An essential result of brand marketing is the widespread use of the brand. Brand proliferation on the part of the existing company reduces the expected sales of a newly entering firm, creating a barrier to the entry of the new company, if the product is one for which consumers switch brands frequently. 

The marketing demands of sustaining market shares by a relatively small number of producers explain why new brands are constantly being introduced.One problem with all these new brands is that trademarks aren’t doing their job of showing where products were made. 

4. An Ancillary Function

A trademark’s primary goal is to generate goodwill; an auxiliary function is to enable consumers to identify the goods and their quality. We have previously established that the goodwill associated with a trademark is its property. 

Customers benefit from being able to easily identify the registered mark’s origins and quality, and society as a whole bears the expenses of trademarks through the goodwill function.

5. Protection against unfair competition

Some people don’t think the quality identification function is very effective. It is strongly tied to safeguards against unfair competition, though. Protecting customers from logo confusion in the marketplace is one function of trademarks.

They make it easier for customers to use their own experience to check the quality. Trademarks, in this sense, do not require a certain level of quality for their logo, but rather a guarantee of thinness or consistency of quality.

Whether branded goods and services are consistently high-quality or not is a matter of opinion when it comes to quality. 

Conclusion

Finally, the originality, credibility, and marketability of trademarks are intended to be safeguarded by these legal requirements and concepts. To protect trademark owners’ rights from infringement, passing off, dilution, and tarnishment, they set out a framework for legal actions and remedies.

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