We now are in the midst of an Indian business milestone that will forever revolutionize the way we are going to think about brands. The Trade Mark Registry has given a smell a trademark, in the country, the first time ever. The leader of this new trend is the Japanese giant Sumitomo Rubber Industries, commonly referred to as its well-known brand of tyre.
An Indian Intellectual Property historic moment.
We now are in the midst of an Indian business milestone that will forever revolutionize the way we are going to think about brands. The Trade Mark Registry has given a smell a trademark, in the country, the first time ever. The leader of this new trend is the Japanese giant Sumitomo Rubber Industries, commonly referred to as its well-known brand of tyre. They have even managed to trademark a certain smell that can be defined as a floral odour that reminds of roses and it is sprinkled onto their car tyres.
This ruling is a tremendous turning point in the realm of brand protection in India. Historically, trademarks have always been visible, such as a logo, brand name, slogan or even a particular combination of colors. The notion of a smell being owned by a company appeared to be unattainable at a very long period of time since smells are invisible and difficult to describe. Sumitomo has broken this glass ceiling by demonstrating that a scent does work to be a distinct identifier of a product.
The process to this registration was not easy and it entailed complicated legal struggles during a number of years. The Indian Trade Marks Act states that a trademark must be capable of representation in the form of a graph either of which is easily achievable with a logo but insanely difficult with a smell. The registry officials needed to be made to believe that this rose scent was not merely a nice perfume but a clear point of difference that differentiates the tyres of Sumitomo and all the other tyres in the market.
With the grant of this registration, India has become a very elite club of countries that acknowledge non-conventional trademarks. They are marks that transcend the visual, and attract other senses such as hearing or smell. This is a positive step indicating that Indian intellectual property law is changing and getting more contemporary and thus willing to embrace the innovative methods of companies trying to stand out in an already saturated international market.
The Scent of Roses on the Road
You may be asking yourself why a tyre company would want to have its products to smell of a garden of roses. The solution is found in the bitter truth of the business of rubber which is that the production process will produce an unpleasant odor, sometimes strong. Sumitomo rubber industries discovered long ago that covering this smell may be a selling point to their customers. They have been putting this particular fragrance of florals into their tyres since 1995 in order to enhance the customer experience.
Sumitomo Tyres Make History with India’s Maiden Smell Trademark Registration
