A trademark attorney will usually process a trademark registration in India by undertaking the following steps:
Trademark’s Comprehensive Study:
Before filing for trademark registration in India, it is important to assess all probable obstacles that could come in the way of the registration process. This Comprehensive Study of the trademark helps in making a list of all comparable trademarks, either graphically or phonetically, that might conflict with the one selected by you. It will also provide a professional opinion of an attorney regarding various registration possibilities.
Request Of Trademark Registration:
The next step is that an attorney files your particular trademark registration in India and conducts all required steps and tasks in the Trademark Office for getting registration approval. After the trademark is filed, we send the filing report comprising of the application number, date, and a scanned copy of the complete application.
Registering is not a mandate to get rights to a trademark. Previous use is sufficient to create ownership for a trademark. India follows the “first to use” rule.
Yes, it can be opposed on the basis of the following:
- Proprietary Rights
- The Trademark is Descriptive
- The Trademark is not unique/distinctive
- The trademark is deceptive or misleading
- Breach of some copyright
- Rights of notorious or popular mark
- Registration in the name of the other representative or agent of the proprietor of the mark
- Rights of various trade names
- Registered design rights
- The trademark is against any public policy or some morality principles
- The trademark is generic
Yes, the following rights get established by registration:
- The exclusive right for using your registered trademark
- The right for applying for seizure by customs officials for importation of any counterfeit goods
- The right to sue in case of any infringement against similar looking third-party trademark usage
- The right to license some other third parties for using the trademark
Trademark FAQs
Yes, it is recommended to register your trademark in local characters to get a stronger and broader protection in India.
In case the trademark is registered just in the original version or Latin characters, then the protection is not valid on its equivalent local language. This means that some third party can use the same trademark (or even similar) in local characters.
Trademark registration in India and its use in local characters also brings commercial benefits. Indian public recognizes your brand easily if they can read and pronounce the mark correctly.
The average timeline for approval of the registration is 24 months, provided no objections or oppositions happen.
- Words
- Names (however, personal names are not permitted)
- Devices
- Some three-dimensional shapes
- Colours
- Sounds
- Slogans
- Trade outfit/get-up
- Holograms
- Collective Trademarks
- Certification Trademarks
- Popular Trademarks
- Service Trademarks
- Marks opposing moral standards or some public order
- General Terms
- Names, Symbols Or Flags Of States, Countries, Or Of Global Organizations
- Trademarks without acquired uniqueness
- Trademarks that work principally as surnames
- Trademarks that work basically as geographic location names
The initial term of a trademark registration is 10 years (calculated from the application date).
Subsequent renewals last for 10 years starting from the registration renewal date.
The first renewal date of a trademark registration in India is 10 years counted from the date on which the application was filed.
The following documentation is needed during renewal:
- A Power of Attorney
- A Request may be raised by the Registry to submit:
- An Original Registration Certificate
- Proof of the prior Renewal Copy or the Renewal Certificate
- A Journal notification about the Previous Renewal
Yes, the grace period after the expiry of the renewal date is 12 months.
