In India, you can register words, logos, numbers, slogans, devices, and more as trademarks. The legal right of exclusivity for use of the mark is granted to the trademark owner upon registration. However, trademark registration is a protracted procedure with many steps. This article discusses how to register a trademark in India. The Best corporate lawyer in Kolkata can assist you with the process.
The value of trademark registration
Trademarks are jurisdictional rights that, like all other physical assets, are also tangible in nature and can be used as a security for loans as well as licenced, sold, and purchased assets. Therefore, such a tangible asset needs protection in order to continue reaping financial rewards for as long as the mark’s owner desires.
A registered trademark offers a company its own unique identity and protects its reputation as a trusted brand. A trademark may be used for ten years following registration and, if the owner renews it on schedule, for as long as the trademark owner’s business is in operation.
The Best Corporate Lawyer in Kolkata can assist you with the process
A Trademark Registration Process
The owner of a trademark must undertake these procedures in order to register it:
- carrying out a thorough trademark search;
- submitting an application and the required documentation;
- The Trademark Registry’s review of the application; Post-examination procedures;
- the application’s announcement in the Trademark Journal;
- opposition from any outside source;
- Every ten years, the same must be registered and renewed.
Trademark Lookup
The business owner or a trademark expert must search the trademark database before starting the trademark registration procedure. A trademarks search can reveal whether a similar or identical trademark has previously been registered with the trademark registry.
Visit the Trademark Registrar website to perform a trademark search.
Filing a trademark
The application for trademark registration can be submitted to the Trademark Registrar following the completion of a trademark search. The trademark registration application must be submitted in the required format and include the appropriate filing fee.
Applications for trademarks may be submitted online or at one of the five Trademark Registrar Offices with jurisdiction over the State. A trademark agent or attorney can submit trademark applications online.
The following details must be included in a trademark registration application:
- Symbol or trademark
- Classification or Trademark Class Trademark used since date Name and address of the trademark owner
- Details of the products or services
Allotment of Trademark Applications
Within one or two working days of the trademark registration application being submitted to the trademark registrar, a trademark application allocation number is given.
Then, using the Online Trademark Search feature, you may follow the trademark application online.
The trademark owner can often add the TM symbol next to the logo after receiving the trademark application allotment number.
The Vienna Code
The figurative components of trademarks are categorised internationally by the Vienna Classification or Vienna Codification, which was established by the Vienna Agreement (1973).
The Brand Registrar will classify the trademark based on its figurative features once the trademark registration application has been submitted.
The trademark application status typically reads “Sent for Vienna Codification” while this process is in progress.
Trademark analysis
The trademark registration application will be assigned to a Trademark Officer in the Trademark Registrar Office once Vienna Codification is complete.
After checking the trademark application for accuracy, the trademark officer would produce a trademark examination report. The trademark officer might accept the application for trademark registration and permit trademark journal publishing or object to the application.
The trademark petitioner has the right to appear well before the trademarks officer and answer the concerns if the trademark officer objects to the trademark registration application.
The trademark would be approved for trademark journal publication if the Trademark Officer is satisfied with the trademark applicant’s reasoning.
The trademark applicant has the right to challenge the Trademark Officer’s judgment in front of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board if the Trademark Officer is not satisfied with the justifications.
The Best Corporate Lawyer in Kolkata can assist you with the process.
Publication in a Trademark Journal
The proposed trademark is printed in the Trademark Journal after the Trademark Registrar accepts the trademark registration application.
Each week, the trademark journal is released, and it lists all the trademarks that the Trademark Registrar has approved. The public has the chance to oppose to the trademark registration once it has been posted in the trademark journal if they feel it will do them harm.
The mark will normally be registered in 12 to 18 weeks or less if no objections are submitted within 90 days of that publication.
The Trademark Hearing Officer will schedule a hearing if a third party objects to the trademark registration application.
At the hearing, both the trademark applicant and the opposing party have the opportunity to speak and defend their positions on whether the trademark application should be accepted or rejected.
The Trademark Hearing Officer will decide whether or not to accept the trademark registration application based on the hearings and the evidence submitted. It is also possible to appeal the Trademark Hearing Officer’s decision to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board.
How to renew a trademark:
A trademark must be renewed after only ten years if it is registered. Six months before the trademark expires, the registrar of trademarks will send you a letter reminding you of its impending expiration. Two possibilities are available when renewing a trademark:
- Continue using the trademark as is
- Renewal of the trademark with modifications
- The TM-R form is used to submit a trademark renewal application.
- The application may be submitted by an authorised representative or agent rather than the trademark’s registered owner.
After submitting the application, one must monitor its status in case any resistance is brought against the registration of the trademark. Any member of the public is permitted to file this kind of opposition.
- The trademark will be published in the official newspaper, the Trademark Journal after the application is accepted.
- If the trademark has been published, the owner is protected for an additional ten years.
- The trademark may be renewed indefinitely.
Renewal of a trademark has various benefits. The holder of the trademark receives a number of legal rights after trademark registration. It guards against trademark infringement and offers compensation in the event that it does happen.
Additionally, it gives the trademark holder the freedom to assign the trademark at any time to another individual or business. The Best Corporate Lawyer in Kolkata can assist you with the process.