4 Best Non-Conventional Trademarks | Sound Marks | Colour Marks | Smell Marks | 3D or Shape Marks
Channel: Bada CFO
Date: 2021-10-07

In the era ruled by aggressive marketing, different techniques are adopted to grab customer's attention. This is where the non-conventional form of a trademark comes to light. #NonConventionalTrademarks are also known as non-traditional trademarks. To make it easy for you, these trademarks are those marks that are beyond the sphere of traditional trademarks and thus, comprise non-visual marks such as taste, sound, smell, texture, etc.
Before moving to 4 best non-conventional trademarks, I will let you know about the trademark in brief.

What is a Trademark?

A #Trademark is any sign or mark used to distinguish the products and services of one individual from the other to ascertain the origin of such products as well as services. A Trademark only refers to logos, words, or symbols. This notion is not entirely true since logos, symbols, as well as words, are not the only marks fitted of being applied as a Trademark for one’s company or business. With the inception of the development of #IntellectualPropertyLaw, different types of marks such as smell, sound, shape, texture, and taste can be trademarked. These developments have manifested in different manners, and the most distinguished of which is the International Agreement on TRIPS i.e., Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, that lays down the meaning as well as precise minimum standards related to #IntellectualPropertyRights (IPR) comprising Trademarks.

4 Non-conventional Trademarks

Sound Marks:
• It’s a kind of mark where a sound is used as a Trademark. Sound plays a vital role in business recognition with the increase of social media platforms utilising audio features such as #YouTubeShorts, Instagram Reels, etc. Usually, there are two crucial requirements for the Registration of #SoundMarks:
• The application of #TrademarkRegistration should state that the mark applied for is a sound mark;
• A graphical depiction of the same should make in the form of musical notations, or where possible, the sound must be capable of being expressed on paper.

Colour Marks:
Colours are one of the significant things to be observed by folks, and hence, it’s most cautious about utilizing this initial impression at the time of creating a business identity and value. Marks that utilize at least one colour to get a distinct and unique identity concerning products and services are referred to as a #ColourMark. Such marks are likely to be registered as a single colour or, as a substitute, a colours combination. Far from conventional Trademark Registration, a colour mark can be trademarked only if it has already attained a unique feature due to its use in trade. The colour is sufficient enough to classify the source of the products & services.

Smell Marks: 
Only a few smell marks have been registered to date, in the known case of Deutsche Patent und-Markenamt vs. Ralf Sickmann, a German Patent Attorney, had filed an application for a #SmellMark for the chemical methyl cinnamate. They made efforts in the direction of representing the smell with their chemical formula and also stated that the scent was “balsamically fruity with a tiny hint of cinnamon”. Trademark for the odour was refused by the German Office of Trademark and the #ECJ as it held that a chemical formula was not sufficient to deduce any smell. Moreover, the representation of the smell needs to be clear and precise.

3D or Shape Marks:
When a final product can be identified on the basis of its shape as well as its packaging, then a three-dimensional mark can be applied for. Nevertheless, there are different factors that come under notice during the assessment of the applications for three-dimensional marks. Other well-known three dimensional marks comprise Kit-Kats chocolates with wedges and the shape of Zippo lighters and Coco-Cola bottles.

The Final Words

Non-Conventional Trademarks continue to remain a contemporary concept. Their registration is encircled by barriers. The difficulties associated with the registration of non-conventional trademarks are proof of the development as well as the growth of Intellectual Property Law and must be viewed as stepping stones to the incorporation of modern methods of differentiating one’s business. For further information and assistance regarding Trademark registration, you can contact us.

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