Joint Ownership of Trademark: Understanding and Advantages

Joint Ownership of Trademark: Understanding and Advantages

Joint ownership means where two or more persons have equal rights over things or property. Joint ownership of a trademark is where two or over two entities jointly own a trademark. When two or more entities move jointly for the products or services provided by them, they apply for joint ownership of the trademark of the products or services provided. Where two legal entities jointly act as a proprietor of a trademark, they're said to be the joint owners of the trademark.¹ In daily life, there are many products every household, company, or service industries use; those products are known by their name and unique identity. Their brand names or pattern of the brand leaves an impact within the consumer’s mind, here is that the importance of brand name protection comes in because the identity of the merchandise starts adding value to the business- THE GOODWILL. Manufacturers, makers, or traders need to withstand vigorous competition to sustain within the market in creating and maintaining an equivalent brand value within the eye and mind of their consumers. Huge competition leads to misuse, infringement, or fraud. to safeguard such acts, businesses are now pro-actively protecting their brands by taking Trademark Registration under Trademark Act, 1999.

In this competitive era, every company providing any goods or services aims at providing the simplest to take care of its name and goodwill within the market. Many companies are good at manufacturing the merchandise and a few are good at marketing and trading an equivalent. In such situations, companies or businesses close and establish a joint entity to capture the market. a mixture of two synergies is usually good for both the parties- the business also because of the consumers. to urge local acceptance, the companies close with local names during a specific jurisdiction and hence apply for Joint Ownership of the Trademark.

According to the Trademark Act 1999, when joint owners file an application, the trademark is going to be considered to be owned by the joint owners jointly and no measurement of the rights is feasible as per the Act.

However, the financial benefits or outcomes from the usage of the brand are often calculated by the joint owners supported the terms and conditions signed between the parties.² The Trademarks Act, 1999 provides for enrollment of joint ownership of a brand name. Two entities may file an application jointly for registering a trademark.

Section 18 of the Act clarifies the jurisdiction of the office of Trade Marks Registry just in case of joint applicants. It states that the jurisdiction of the office of the Trade Marks Registry for filing the joint application is going to be the principal place of business of the applicant whose name appears first within the application.

Section 24 of the Act sets out rules concerning jointly owned trademarks. It states that just in case of joint ownership, the relation between the joint owners is such that both the persons or entities use the trademark together, but neither of them shall be absolutely the owner of the trademark. The trademark shall be registered for both the parties to be held together. Both the entities or parties will have the right to use the trademark as if those rights are vested during a single person. The joint entities or parties cannot use the jointly registered trademark against one another.

Instances and Cases Of Joint Ownership

• The Hero Honda Motors Limited³, which was a joint involvement between Hero and Honda Motors dissolved and a replacement entity called Hero MotoCorp Limited came into being which carried the business by using the sooner established trademark.

• Volvo sold its car manufacturing division to Ford Motor Company⁴ and shared its rights of the trademark when it gave control of its car manufacturing division to Ford Motor Company.

• In the case of ‘Power Control Appliances vs Sumeet Machines Pvt Ltd’, the court held that there might be just one source and proprietor of a trademark. A trademark cannot have two origins. during this case, the plaintiff (the first party to the case) and therefore the defendant (the second party to the case) are joint owners of the trademark. But, the defendant said to be the rival of the plaintiff. The court held that this is often not permissible in law because the joint owners of the trademark cannot use it in rivalry or competition with one another⁵.

• The ‘Re Palmolive’ case deals with joint ventures. The court held that before the trademarks are often registered in joint names of the parties, it must be established that the trademarks undergo the hands of both parties. It means the joint owners must be connected within the course of trade of the registered trademark by sharing profits or in the other way.

• In the case of ‘Gudakhu Star & Label TradeMark’⁶ , the court held that the trademark is the property of the partnership firm. The trademark was the property of one of the partners and thus became the property of the firm because the partner used the trademark within the label of the firm.

  Advantages

Joint ownership over a trademark has certain advantages. Every company aims at providing the simplest goods and services to take care of its brand value and goodwill within the market. Thus, the businesses close for jointly manufacturing, trading, and marketing the products or products. They acquire joint ownership of the products or services manufactured and marketed by them. a number of the benefits are-

a. Joint Usage of the Trademark

Since the Act provides that the joint owners cannot use the mark exclusively as their own and that they hold the trademark together, there's a surety of usage of the trademark. The joint proprietors of the trademark are liable for the usage of the trademarks within the goods or services provided by them. But, one owner cannot claim the ownership within the trademark against the opposite. No single user can claim authority over the jointly owned trademark and exercise total control over the trademark or goodwill generated by them.

b. Complete Dissolution

In the case where one among the parties of the jointly owned trademark undergoes dissolution, the jointly owned trademark is protected as no single owner can claim complete ownership. All the rights of the joint owners within the trademark are dissolved instantly and shall not be available for the single-use by one among the joint owners. Thus, the goodwill and trust within the trademark used over a period of your time are preserved.

Conclusion

The protection of property was considered just a set of rights to guard the owners’ vested interests. thanks to the changing course of your time and therefore the developments throughout the amount, we now see various concepts that need a better threshold for interdependence and trust. The joint ownership of marks may be a consequence of such a growth, which has proved a multi-faceted bounty for the IP industry. Despite its share of negativity, a joint trademark owner should be the well-liked way of making a replacement mark face supporting the geographical boundaries of one company. The sum of profit given is that the recipient and therefore the owner of the mark’s prerogative.

BY:-

B. RUKMANI