Collective Trademark in India

A collective trademark is a blend of numbers, letters, names, words etc. a collective trademark is owned by an organisation or an association and not just a single individual or a company. For example, a trademark for the textile association of Ahmedabad. A collective trademark registration in Ahmedabad helps in recognizing the value of the items and its geographical source.

The features of a collective trademark are:

1. The collective trademark tells people about the value of a product or service based upon the collective network of organisations.
2. The products are promoted based on a geographic origin. The products not only get domestic recognition but they get international recognition as well. 
3. As other trademarks, a collective trademark helps in differentiating one product from another. 

Types of a Collective Trademark:

1. The marks that are used by the members individually.
2. The marks used by those registered under an association or cooperation.

The collective trademarks have been defined under section 2(1)(g) of the Trade Marks Act,1999. The definition says that it is a trademark used by individuals for their goods and services, out of a formal relationship between them. For example, a trademark of the Dairy association of Ahmedabad.

Regulations under rule 128:

1. The name of all the organisations and their office addresses. 
2. The object and aim of the association.
3. Each detail of the members.
4. The entire conditions of membership and relation of each member with the group.
5. The conditions that will govern the use of the trademark by the members.
6. The procedures to deal with appeals against the wrong use of collective trademarks. 

Draft Regulations:

1. The names of the persons authorised to use the collective trademark.
2. The condition of the membership.
3. Conditions of non-use of the Mark
4. Sanctions for the misuse of the collective trademark

Section 62 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 deals with the registration of the collective trademarks.

Two essential components of collective trademark registration:

1. A collective trademark need not comply with all the rules of the trademark registration if it is likely to deceive the public
2. If the collective trademark may be taken as something else then the registrar will require something unique in the application that will differentiate the collective trademark in the market. 

The section 64 and section 65 deals with the prerequisites for registering a collective trademark and further filing the application of the same in the court.