Trademark infringement or theft is the unauthorized usage of a mark that is identical or deceptively similar to a registered trademark. Being deceptively similar, a trademark becomes confusing to consumers and they fail to differentiate between products.

Since a trademark is intellectual property, the Trade Marks Act, 1999, serves legal protection against any misuse or theft in India.

Trademark owners can take legal action if they believe their unique mark is stolen or copied. If such an infringement of a trademark is proven, the owner can seek Legal Assistance to proceed further and demand monetary compensation.

Types of Trademark™ theft

• Usage without Authorization: Trademark violation happens when the mark is used by a person who is not authorized by the owner to use it in any form.
• Identical or Similar Replication:  If the trademark used by the unauthorized person is identical to that of the registered trademark or bear an uncanny resemblance to it.
• Reusing an already Registered Trademark: The Act only extends protection to trademarks that are registered under the trademark registry of India. This is why you need to register your creation to safeguard it from potential theft.

Penalties for Infringement

In the case of trademark infringement, the court may award the following remedies:

1. Temporary or Permanent injunction
2. Damages on the basis of theft
3. Damages in the amount of the profits gained from the infringement
4. Misguiding consumers using the infringing mark
5. Cost of legal proceedings taken up by the victim.

Protection from Infringement

If someone is using your registered trademark without your authorization, either knowingly or unknowingly, you can file a Trademark Opposition case against them in court.

As an alternative to doing all the detailed paperwork yourself, you can avail of the country's own TM Expert Panel in Online Legal India™ to take care of everything, starting from drafting the objection to any lawful formalities afterward, in a hassle-free way.