DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BUSINESS NAME AND TRADEMARK

The business name is often regarded synonym to the trademark and used interchangeably to denote a particular name associated with the business. Both of these are concerned with the unique name adopted by the company to conduct its day-to-day business in the market, but the difference lies in nature, objective and legality of the subject matter. 

A Business Name is simply a unique combination of words that is adopted by the company to distinguish its entity from other businesses. The business name gives the identity to the company through which the customer or public at large recognizes the manufacturing, production, selling, or any other activities of that particular business. A business name can be a registered name, with which the business sells its products around the world. This is an image of the business before the public and it can change according to the change in the reputation of the business. 

A trademark, on the other hand, is a legally recognized combination of words, alphabets, fonts, style, slogan, colour, structure, symbol, etc which identifies the company and differentiates its products from that of other companies. A Trademark is a legal right granted to such a combination that possesses distinctive features and recognized in the eyes of the customer. This helps the customer recognize the origin of the product of that particular trademark. Where the customer can associate the product with the brand, the objective of the Trademark is fulfilled. In simple words ‘Trademark’ denotes the mark with which the product of a particular business is traded legally in the marketplace. 

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT TRADEMARKS, WATCH THIS VIDEO - 

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BUSINESS NAME AND TRADEMARK

1. BASED ON NATURE

• Business name yields goodwill to the business. When the customers get associated with the goods and services manufactured or traded by that particular business with its name embedded on the packaging, document, services, etc, the business name gets imprinted on the minds of the customer and hence added to the goodwill of the business.
• Trademark grants legal protection to the business name. Apart from the owner of the Trademark, no other business can use the registered trademark for their own goods and services.

2. BASED ON IMPORTANCE

• The Business name is an important aspect for the company as all the business operations and management are carried on by the business name. The registered business name grants artificial personality to the company with which the business gets recognition in the market.
• Trademark is an important aspect for the world at large as it grants protection to the business name against the possible infringement.

3. BASED ON GOALS

• The goal of a Business name is to manufacture, sell, transport, or provide service to the public in its name. The concerned proprietor uses this business name to channelize its product into the market for sale and purchase.
• The goal of the Trademark is to provide legal recognition to the prescribed Business name. The goal is to give exclusive right to utilize the name in its product and services for commercial exploitation and exclude other proprietors or businesses from using this name on their products or services. Registration can be applied in a particular country and a certain type of goods and services. 

4. BASED ON REGISTRATION

• The ‘Business Name’ can be registered by the Proprietor before the Government of the Country. Like in India, the business name is registered by filing an application before the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and with the specific Industry, with appropriate details of the business. However, there is no mandatory provision to register the business in India, it is only recommended. Once the Business is registered with MCA it can be regarded as a registered business, and the name of the concerned business will be regarded as a Business name, irrespective of the fact that whether the public can associate the product with the business or not. 
• While, on the other hand, registration of a Trademark is a more complex and straightforward process. To register a mark/business name with the Trademark Registry of a country one needs to prove that the mark has a distinctive feature and the combination of words, letters, fonts, style, or structure adopted by the business is unique. Generic words, well-known words, and words devoid of any distinctive character cannot be trademarked. 
• For instance, Sheetal Jal water Purifier Company can register its business in a state or in the government’s website, but the same business name cannot be granted Trademark as it does not possess any distinctive character. ‘Sheetal’ means cold and ‘Jal’ means water, here both the words are generic and do not contain any unique combination of words. These words are not the result of the intellectual ability of the owner, but it's a mere combination of two (2) known words. Therefore, Sheetal Jal can be registered as a business name but it cannot be granted a Trademark. 

5. BASED ON IMPACT ON THE MARKET

• The Business name is associated with the operations, reputation, objective, vision, and cultural identity of that particular business. It is a name with which the business launch its products into the market and therefore, popularly recognizable to the concerned market, customer and industry.
• The trademark will protect this business name not only in the existing market but also against the upcoming business. The new businesses are restricted from using the registered trademarks in any form. Trademark is a futuristic process. 

6. BASED ON LENGTH OF USE

• A Business name can be used for any number of years, as there is no prescribed time period for the use of the business name.
• As per Trademark Act, 1999 the trademark can be grated for a period of 10 years from the date of filing of the Application and it is eligible for renewal every 10 years.

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT BENEFITS OF TRADEMARK, WATCH THIS VIDEO - 

BY - SOUMYA SONI