An Introduction to Trademarks in Singapore

A trademark is a name or symbol secured by legal registration that identifies its owner's product or service and distinguishes it from other products and services of other companies. The basic principle of trademark law is based on the assumption that no one else should be entitled to sell his goods or services by pretending that they are someone else's. An enterprise spends a lot of time, energy, and effort in developing a goodwill in a name, and without proper protection, it's too easy for someone else to cash in on this by using a very similar or identical name.

A registered trademark gives its owners the right to exclude all other businesses from using a similar mark on related goods or services. For instance, nobody in the computer industry is allowed to use the name "Apple" as a way of identifying themselves, except for Apple Computers, Inc. The relevant authority for registration of trademarks in Singapore is called Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Law.

This guide provides a general introduction to the concept of a trademark and its benefits. 

Related Topics:

• How to register a trademark in Singapore
  
• How to register a company in Singapore

What is a trademark?

Essentially, a trademark constitutes any sign that individualizes the goods or services of a given enterprise and capable of distinguishing them from the competitors. It can be a word or other device such as a phrase, logo, sound, or package design. It is not necessary that the consumer be able to identify the specific manufacturer. Rather, the mark need merely to communicate to consumers that the goods or services bearing the mark come from a unique source, distinguishable from all the other sources for those goods or services.

Often the term trademark is used to refer to both trademarks and service marks. The trademark vs service mark distinction is really quite small. Trademarks and service marks are essentially the same thing. However, a trademark promotes goods or products, while a service mark promotes services. It appears to be common usage to refer to service marks as either trademarks or service marks. However, the reverse is not true; and you cannot refer to a mark affixed to goods as a service mark.

® and ™ are common symbols associated with trade marks. ® indicates that the mark is a registered trade mark and hence protected under the trade mark law. ™ is just a symbol used to indicate that the mark is being used by the company as a trade mark. It does not denote that the mark is registered nor protected under the trade mark law. There is no requirement that you use any of the symbols, however there are two important advantages to using them. First, the symbols provide notice to the world that you are claiming the symbols as trademarks, and this will deter others from attempting to use the name for their own business.

The words "trademark," "copyright," and "patent," are often used interchangeably and incorrectly by people. They are all intangible property that can be bought, sold, or licensed, however they each protect completely different interests.

Patents protect new inventions, discoveries and designs, while copyrights protect original works of authorship such as paintings, computer programs, sculpture and architectural designs. Trademarks do not protect creation or inventiveness at all. In fact, a trademarks can be acquired with no creative or innovative input from the owner whatsoever. For instance, when the public spontaneously began referring to "Coca Cola" as "Coke," the new term became a source identifier for the product, and thus automatically a trademark.

Why register a trademark?

Although it is not mandatory to register a trademark in order to use it according to Singapore Trademark Laws, a trade mark registration adds great value to a business. Some of the key benefits of registering a trademark include:

• The trade mark owner obtains a right to ownership and the right to prevent others from using a similar mark without his permission.
• Generates a rightful perception among public about the authentic ownership and quality of the product.
• Prevents others to copy and use the trademark as the owner of a registered trademark can sue and collect damages from organizations that infringe upon the trademark.
• A trademark registration decreases the likelihood of another party claiming that your trademark infringes upon their trademark.
• Gives owner the right to use ® symbol.
• It lets the world know that you claim rights in the mark which helps in the deterrence two ways. First the Singapore trademark office will refuse to register any confusingly similar marks. Second, your mark will appear on trademark searches when businesses contemplate adopting a mark that is similar to yours.

To learn more about Singapore trademark act and how to register a trademark in Singapore, refer to the next article Singapore Trademark Registration Procedure.

Other Related Topics

Singapore Company Incorporation | Singapore Taxation | Singapore Immigration