Protect your brand. Own it legally.

™ (TM): Anyone can use the ™ symbol from the moment they start using a mark commercially or file a trademark application. It signals a claim of ownership but does not confer enforceable statutory rights — those come only from registration.

® (R): Only registered trademarks can use the ® symbol. Using ® before registration is a criminal offence under section 107 of the Trade Marks Act, punishable with fine and imprisonment up to 3 years.

So: use ™ from filing day. Switch to ® only after you receive the registration certificate (usually 8–12 months from filing if uncontested).

It depends on whether you face examination objections or opposition:

Best case (clean): 8–12 months from filing to registration. No examination report, no opposition. ~30–40% of cases.

Typical case: 14–18 months. One examination report (responded within 30 days), no opposition. ~50% of cases.

Contested case: 18–24+ months. Examination response + opposition handling. ~10–20% of cases.

Throughout this period you can use the ™ symbol and the application number. The 10-year validity counts from the application filing date, not the registration date.

Under section 9 of the Trade Marks Act, the following are not registrable:

(1) Marks lacking distinctiveness — purely descriptive words (“Sweet” for candy), generic terms, common surnames without acquired meaning.

(2) Customary or laudatory terms — “Premium”, “Original”, “Best”.

(3) Marks that mislead — false geographical indications, false quality claims.

(4) Marks against public morality or law — offensive, scandalous, or illegal content.

(5) Hurt religious sentiments — names/images of deities, religious symbols of any community.

(6) National symbols — Indian flag, emblems, names of historical figures protected by Emblems Act.

(7) Shape resulting from the nature of goods — the shape of a tyre cannot be a tyre brand’s trademark.

We screen for all these in the initial search.

Important strategic question. Pros and cons:

Register personally: ₹4,500 govt fee (vs ₹9,000 for company). You retain ownership even if you wind up the business. You can license to your own company. Useful if you might run multiple ventures.

Register under company: Asset sits on company balance sheet — valuation benefit for fundraising or M&A. Easier to transfer with the business. Some investors specifically want IP held by the company.

Common pattern: founders register personally first (lower fee, simpler), then assign to the company once it’s formed and funded. We handle both routes.

Once the Trademark Office accepts your application, it’s published in the Trademarks Journal. For 4 months from publication, any third party can file a notice of opposition (Form TM-O) claiming the mark conflicts with their rights.

Common opposers: owners of similar earlier marks, competitors who don’t want you in the market, “trademark trolls” who file frivolous oppositions hoping for a settlement payment.

The process: opposer files notice → you file counter-statement (within 2 months) → both parties file evidence → hearing → Registrar decides. The whole opposition track adds 12–18 months.

Strategy depends on facts. Often the opposer abandons after seeing a strong counter-statement. Sometimes we negotiate co-existence agreements. Sometimes we narrow the specification to remove overlap. Our SME plan covers the first round of opposition response.

Word mark: Registers only the textual word, in any font, any colour. Broadest protection — covers the word in all stylizations. Recommended as the primary registration.

Device mark (logo): Registers a specific visual representation. Protection is limited to that exact (or very similar) visual presentation. Useful as a supplementary registration if your logo has distinctive visual elements.

Best practice for serious brands: register both. Word mark for broad name protection; device mark for logo protection. Each costs the same govt fee — two separate applications.

The Madrid Protocol is an international system letting you extend trademark protection to multiple countries via a single application filed through the Indian Trademark Office.

You need a “base application” or registration in India first. Then file Form MM-2 designating the countries you want protection in. WIPO routes the application to each country’s IP office, where it’s examined under local law.

When to use it: when you’re selling internationally (or plan to in 1–2 years), when you have distributors in foreign markets, when investors are pushing for global IP protection.

When to skip it: India-only operations, no near-term international plans. Filing internationally without a real commercial reason is just burning capital.

Cost: roughly ₹17,000 WIPO basic fee + per-country designation fees (varies widely; ~₹8K–₹40K per country). We help structure the filing strategy to maximize coverage at minimum cost.

India follows “first-to-file” (with some prior-use protections). If you’ve been using the mark commercially before they filed — you have a defence under prior use, but you need evidence: dated invoices, social posts, advertising materials, customer communications.

If you have solid prior-use evidence dating before their filing date, we can: (a) oppose their application during the publication window, (b) file a rectification petition after their registration, (c) defend any infringement suit they bring with a prior-use counterclaim.

If you don’t have prior-use evidence, your options narrow significantly. The lesson: file early, file before you scale, and keep dated evidence of use from day one.

Registration is valid for 10 years from the application filing date. Renewal needs to be filed within 6 months before expiry, with renewal fee of ₹9,000 per class.

If you miss the 6-month window, there’s a 6-month grace period after expiry with a surcharge. After 12 months total, the mark is removed from the register — but can be restored within 1 year of removal with a restoration application and additional fees.

Beyond restoration window, you lose the registration permanently and would need to start fresh. We send renewal reminders to all our SME and Brand Portfolio clients well in advance.

Yes — taglines and slogans can be registered as trademarks if they’re distinctive (not purely descriptive). Examples that succeeded: “Just Do It” (Nike), “I’m Lovin’ It” (McDonald’s), “Daag Acche Hain” (Surf Excel).

However, taglines often face section 9(1)(a) and 9(1)(b) objections for being descriptive or laudatory. The defence is acquired distinctiveness — showing through evidence (ad spend, brand surveys, consumer recognition) that the tagline has come to be associated with your brand.

Practical advice: file the tagline along with your word mark and logo for serious campaigns. For unproven taglines, wait until you’ve invested in brand-building and have evidence of distinctiveness.

An ongoing monitoring service where we scan newly-published trademark applications (every week as the Trademarks Journal is published) and flag any new filings that conflict with your registered marks.

When a conflict is detected, we recommend opposition (if within the 4-month window) or rectification (if already registered). This prevents copycats from gaining a foothold before you notice.

Included in the Brand Portfolio plan. Available as an add-on to SME plans for ₹4,999/year per mark across all classes.

Once you have a registered trademark, you have multiple enforcement tools:

Cease & desist letter: First step — formal legal notice demanding they stop. Often resolves the issue without litigation. We draft and serve.

Online platform takedowns: File takedowns with Amazon (Brand Registry), Flipkart, Meta, Google, Instagram, etc. Most respect registered trademark complaints within 7 days.

Civil suit for infringement: File in High Court for injunction (stop using the mark) and damages. Interim injunctions can be granted within weeks. Damages depend on quantum of infringer’s sales using the mark.

Criminal complaint: Trademark infringement is also a criminal offence under sections 103-104 of the Trade Marks Act — fine up to ₹2L and imprisonment up to 3 years. Useful for blatant counterfeiting.

We help select the right route based on the infringer’s scale, your business impact, and budget.

Sophisticated buyers do detailed IP due diligence. Expect them to ask:

(1) All registered and pending marks — registration numbers, classes, validity, owners.

(2) Evidence that all critical brand names are owned by the entity being sold (not personally by a founder).

(3) Status of pending oppositions or examination reports.

(4) Existence of trademark watch or enforcement records.

(5) International protection in markets where the buyer operates.

Pre-sale IP cleanup is one of our regular engagements. Common issues we fix: marks held personally by founders (assignment to company), missing classes (supplementary filings), expired marks (restoration), unprotected international markets (Madrid Protocol).

WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted. For larger files, we use a secure client portal with TLS in transit and encryption at rest.

Trademark filings themselves are public records once filed — that’s how the system works. But pre-filing materials (proposed brand names, search reports, strategic considerations) we treat as confidential and don’t share with anyone outside the engagement team.

Our retention is per statutory requirements for client files. Non-statutory materials can be deleted on request.