Blog Details

Author - Associate Runa Jasia

Trademark is a symbol, word, or words legally registered or established by use as representing a company or product. Trademark can represent a theme for a particular company. The official website to register any trademarks:  http://www.ipindia.nic.in in India. 

• Steps for registering a trademark in a nutshell:

A corresponding form number is provided after filling up the form. An application is reviewed by the Head or Branch office of the Trademarks registry office. It is mentioned on the official website:

• The Examination of all applications is done centrally in the Head Office of the TRADEMARKS Registry at Mumbai. 

• The Registrar on consideration of the application and any evidence of use or distinctiveness decides whether the application should be accepted for registration or not, and if accepted, publishes the same in the Trade Marks Journal, an official gazette of the Trade Marks Registry, which is hosted weekly on the official website. 
• Within four months from the date of publication any person can file an opposition in such cases the opposition proceeding is conducted at the respective office of the Trade Marks Registry.

• Under opposition proceeding, a copy of the notice of opposition is served to the applicant who is required to file a counter-statement within two months failing which the application is treated as abandoned.
• On completion of evidence, the matter is set down for a hearing and the case is decided by a Hearing officer. The registrar’s decision is appealable to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board.

For small enterprises or individual application fees are between 4500 – 5000 INR (Physical or E- Filing) and in other cases maybe 10000 INR. 

Simple steps to do trademark registration in India are:

• Think about a trademark design and then look for a professional

The business owner must discuss the logo/trademark design with their business partner and the essential members of their company. They can think about the design, etc. and search online for various ideas. They can also search for it offline. Logo/Trademark helps in promotion and advertisement of the product. They can also search logo availability online before going to any professional. There can be different kinds of logos; it may be a name, symbol, image, letters, etc. If the selected logo matches with any other company, then the owner can choose a different logo. Maybe the assistance of a lawyer can help in this situation.

• Application for the logo/trademark registration

The application can be filled online. There are 5 trademark registry offices in India. The application shall be in the manner as prescribed by the government and has to be filed along with required fees for the application. An application will contain some information such as a tagline, logo design, company name, business owner name, description of the products and services. Receipt and date are generated accordingly. This form is known as TM-1. This process can also be done in an offline mode by sending an application to the trademark offices. But this is not a time-efficient process compared to the online method.  After the processing of the application and receiving the acknowledgment the owner can use the logo for their company.   

Deposit fees INR 4500 for E-filing and 5000 for Physical Filing per application per class and lawyer’s fees as charged by the respective lawyer.

• Further process

After receiving the application (online or offline) it will be processed and checked if the provided details are all true or not by the business owner. Afterward, the people of the registry offices will check if the logo is matching with some other companies or not. If any conflict or dispute occurs then it will be noted down. For Issue of Examination Report, No fee is levied but INR 4000 to INR 6000 in case of an objection arises. A report is generated if there will be any objection to the application:

Case 1: If there will be no objection

If everything went well and none of the dispute occurs then it means that the report (also known as examination report) is passed and after that, they issue a letter of acceptance (that means there is no objection for the logo/trademark)

Case 2: If there will be an objection

In case of any objections, it could be because of the several reasons like it might consider the word or logo excessively comparative; making it impossible to a current trademark, trust it to be foul or that it could hurt religious assumptions. However, the person can still challenge if they think there is nothing wrong with their logo. They can hire an Intellectual property lawyer for this situation.

• Approval

After the successful approval of the trademark/logo, the trademark/logo can be presented publicly in the trademarks journal. Around 9 months after the notice is distributed, the trademark will be enlisted. If there are no oppositions within 4 months from the date of advertisement in the Trade Marks Journal, then the trademark registration certificate will be issued. The trademark attorney will send the owner Original Representation Sheet of the trademark/logo as it has been filed with the Trademark Office. If there are objections from the trademark office or from anyone else, it may take longer.