A registered trademark gives you exclusive rights to your brand name and logo. Here's everything you need to know.
A trademark is the only thing standing between your brand name and someone else using it. Registration in India takes eight to twelve months end to end, but protection is backdated to your filing date — which means the value starts accruing the day you file, not the day the certificate arrives.
What can be registered
- Brand names and product names
- Logos and device marks
- Taglines and slogans
- Distinctive packaging shapes and colour combinations
- Sound marks, in limited circumstances
What cannot
Purely descriptive terms, generic words for the goods themselves, marks that mislead as to origin or quality, and marks deceptively similar to an existing registration or pending application. 'Fresh Milk' for a dairy will not register. An invented word will register easily. The more distinctive the mark, the stronger and cheaper the protection.
The classes matter
India follows the NICE classification — 45 classes, 1 to 34 for goods and 35 to 45 for services. Registration protects your mark only in the classes you file in. A software company filing in class 42 gets no protection if someone launches apparel under the same name in class 25. Multi-class filing costs more but is often worth it where brand extension is likely.
The process
- Trademark search on the IP India public database to check availability
- File Form TM-A with the appropriate class or classes
- Examination by the Trademark Examiner — an examination report is issued
- Respond to any objections raised, with a hearing if required
- Publication in the Trademark Journal, opening a four-month opposition window
- If unopposed, registration and issuance of the certificate
Fees
Government fee is ₹4,500 per class for individuals, startups, and MSMEs filing online, and ₹9,000 per class for other entities. Holding a Startup India or Udyam certificate halves the fee, which is a good reason to get those in place first.
Using the symbols correctly
You may use ™ from the moment you file — it signals a claim, not a registration. The ® symbol may only be used after the certificate is granted. Using ® on an unregistered mark is an offence under the Trade Marks Act, so keep the distinction clean in your packaging and marketing.
Registration lasts ten years and is renewable indefinitely in ten-year blocks. Diarise the renewal — lapsed marks are a common and entirely avoidable loss.