Trademark Registration Procedure In India

 The process of trademark registration in India is meant to protect the brand or symbol from identity theft. With increasing competition, businesses need to make their product/service stand out from the crowd. Trademark registration adds authenticity to your product and makes it easy for your customers to differentiate it from similar other products in the market. Trademark registration in India is carried through a series of stages. To begin with:

Trademark Search

Trademark registration in India begins with trademark search. There are certain criteria that have to be met to get your mark registered. The main motto of performing a trademark search before the registration procedure is to avoid any possible conflicts with those which are already registered the ones in the queue to get registered. The process is recommended to be done under expert assistance to avoid further conflicts during the registration procedure.

Filing the Application

Once sure that your proposed mark does not conflict with other trademarks registered and applied for registration, the application must be filed at the Trademark Registry Office. The application must be filed in the process prescribed by the authorities and this should be along with the prescribed fee. The trademark registration application submitted must have the following information:

·         Logo or the mark

·         Name and address of the person owning the trademark

·         Trademark Class or classification

·         Description of the products and/or services

Allotment of Trademark Application

As the application is filed at the registry, the applicant will be provided with a trademark application allotment number with 1 or 2 working days. Upon obtaining the trademark application allotment number, the applicant can use a TM symbol next to the logo.

Vienna Codification

Vienna Codification is an international classification of figurative elements of marks. Once an applicant files an application for trademark registration, the trademark authorities will apply the Vienna codification considering the figurative elements of marks. As this process progresses, the status of the application will be “Sent for Vienna Codification”.

Trademark Examination

After the Vienna codification, the trademark application will be passed to the trademark office to review the application for its correctness and issue a trademark examination report. The examination report could either be a sanction to publish the mark in the trademark journal or it could contain a trademark objection. In case if the application gets objected, the applicant must address the objection with supporting justification within the stipulated time. If the applicant succeeds in convincing the trademark officer with justifications, the mark will be allowed to be published in the trademark journal. If the trademark officer is not convinced with the justification, the applicant can move his/her appeal to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board.

Trademark Publication

Trademark journal which is published weekly lists all the proposed trademarks accepted by the Trademark Registrar. The publication is an opportunity for the public to view all the marks and file a trademark opposition if they believe that could be damaged by the registration. Upon receiving an opposition, a hearing will be called by the Trademark Hearing officer. During the hearing, both the applicant and the opposing party have to provide respective proofs justifications for why the application should be accepted/rejected. If not satisfied with the decision made by the Trademark Hearing Officer, the decision can be challenged by escalating the case to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board.

Trademark Registration

Once there is no opposition, the trademark registration certificate will be issued by the trademark authorities. With this, the owner will be granted all the exclusive rights to use the mark. The owner can then use the ® symbol next to the logo or mark.