Trademark registration in India means filing Form TM-A with the Trade Marks Registry, which IP India runs online, and paying a government fee of ₹4,500 per class if you are an individual, startup or small enterprise, or ₹9,000 per class for any other applicant, when you file electronically. A registered mark is protected for 10 years counted from the filing date, and no mark reaches the register until the 4-month opposition period after its publication in the Trade Marks Journal has passed.
Who can apply for trademark registration in India?
Anyone who claims to own a mark that they use, or propose to use, can apply under section 18(1) of the Trade Marks Act 1999. You do not need to be trading yet: IP India accepts applications on a proposed-to-be-used basis as well as on the basis of earlier use.
File in the name of whoever owns the brand: if a company sells under the name, the company should apply, not a director. A few rules shape the application:
- A partnership firm must give the full name and nationality of every partner (rule 15(2) of the Trade Marks Rules 2017).
- An applicant with no place of business in India gives an address for service in India, which means a postal address in India and a working email address (rules 15(3) and 17).
- Only three kinds of people can act for you before the Registrar: an advocate, a registered trademark agent or someone in your sole and regular employment (section 145). When you compare providers, ask who will actually sign and file.
- Your principal place of business in India decides which of the five Registry offices (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad) handles the file (section 18(3)). For businesses based in Maharashtra, see trademark registration in Mumbai.
What documents are needed for trademark registration?
Most of what the Registry needs goes into Form TM-A itself: the applicant's details, a clear image of the mark, the goods or services and, if you claim one, the date of first use. Supporting documents depend on your situation.
| Document | When you need it | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Image of the mark, no larger than 8 cm by 8 cm | Every application, and especially a logo | Rule 26(1) |
| User affidavit with supporting documents | You claim use before the filing date | Rule 25(2) |
| Authorisation of your advocate or agent | Someone files on your behalf | Section 145 and rule 19 |
| Startup or small enterprise certificate | You pay the lower ₹4,500 rate | Form TM-A |
| Transliteration and translation | The mark has words in a script other than Hindi or English | Rule 28 |
| Written consent | The mark shows the name or picture of a living person, or of someone who died within the 20 years before filing, and the Registrar asks for it | Rule 29 |
| Extra views of the shape, or an MP3 of up to 30 seconds with its notation | Three-dimensional, shape or sound marks | Rule 26(3) to (5) |
A user affidavit is needed only when you claim earlier use. For a brand that has not launched, file it as proposed to be used and leave the affidavit out.
Trademark registration fees and the full cost
The government fee is charged for each class and for each mark. It is ₹4,500 online (₹5,000 on paper) for an individual, startup or small enterprise, and ₹9,000 online (₹10,000 on paper) for every other applicant. Faster examination costs more and can only be requested online.
| Official fee | Individual, startup or small enterprise | Other applicants |
|---|---|---|
| Form TM-A, e-filing, per class | ₹4,500 | ₹9,000 |
| Form TM-A, paper filing, per class | ₹5,000 | ₹10,000 |
| Expedited examination (rule 34), e-filing only, per class | ₹20,000 | ₹40,000 |
| Amending the application on Form TM-M, e-filing | ₹900 | ₹900 |
Example. Copperleaf Studio Private Limited (a made-up company) is a recognised startup. It wants to protect its brand name and its logo separately, each in Classes 25 and 35. That is two marks in two classes, so four class fees: 4 × ₹4,500 = ₹18,000 online. If the same company were not a startup or small enterprise, the fee would be 4 × ₹9,000 = ₹36,000.
Settle the classes before you count fees, with the Trademark Class Finder.
Step-by-step trademark registration process
You search, settle the classes, file Form TM-A online and then answer whatever the Registry raises until the mark is published and the opposition period ends.
- Search the register for identical and similar marks in each class, using IP India's public trademark search.
- Settle the classes and the exact wording of the goods and services.
- Decide the filing plan: word mark, logo or both, and one class or several. A single application can cover several classes (section 18(2)).
- File Form TM-A on the IP India e-filing portal. It is signed by you or your agent (rule 23(1)), and for online filing, signing includes a digital signature (rule 13(3)). The portal acknowledges it with an electronic receipt.
- Fix any deficiency the Registry notifies within one month of the notice, or the application is treated as abandoned (rule 31).
- Answer the examination report, if it raises objections, within one month of receiving it (rule 33(4)).
- Once accepted, the mark is advertised in the Trade Marks Journal, and anyone may oppose it within 4 months (rule 42).
- With no opposition, or once an opposition is decided in your favour, the Registrar enters the mark on the register (rule 53) and issues the certificate in Form RG-2 (rule 56).
Watch out. If registration is not completed within 12 months of filing because of a default on your side, the Registrar can send a notice in Form RG-1 giving 21 days to complete it, extendable to at most one month on request (section 23(3) and rule 52). After that, the application can be treated as abandoned.
How long does trademark registration take in India?
Section 23(1) of the Act, as amended in 2010, directs the Registrar to register an accepted mark within 18 months of filing where it is unopposed or the opposition is decided in your favour. The Rules add stage limits: nothing is registered until 4 months after advertisement, and each answer to the Registry's own objections carries a one-month limit.
If you pay for expedited processing, rule 34 says examination ordinarily happens within three months of the request.
- Advertisement: the 4-month opposition window cannot be extended.
- An opposed mark adds the counter-statement and three evidence rounds (2, 2, 2 and 1 months under rules 44 to 47) before a hearing.
Once registered, the mark counts as registered from the date of the application (section 23(1)), so the 10-year term runs from the filing date. The Trademark Status and Deadline Tool explains each status you will see on the way.
What does a registered trademark protect, and what does it not?
Registration gives the owner the exclusive right to use the mark for the goods and services it covers, and the right to sue for infringement (section 28). It does not reach unrelated goods, and it can be lost through non-use or a missed renewal.
- No one can sue for infringement of an unregistered mark (section 27(1)), though an action for passing off is still open (section 27(2)).
- Someone who uses your registered mark as their trade name or business name, for the goods or services it is registered for, infringes it (section 29(5)).
- A mark left unused for a continuous 5 years after it is entered on the register can be taken off on the application of an aggrieved person (section 47(1)(b)).
- The registration must be renewed every 10 years from the application date (section 25). Ofin files trademark renewals as well.
Common reasons applications are objected or delayed
Most delays come from the mark itself, because it describes the product or sits close to an earlier mark, or from paperwork that does not match the applicant. Both are cheaper to fix before filing than after.
- A mark made only of words that describe the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value or geographical origin of the goods (section 9(1)(b)).
- An identical or similar earlier mark for the same or similar goods (section 11(1)), which the examiner finds in the search required by rule 33(1).
- The wrong applicant: a director's name instead of the company's, or a firm's application without all its partners (rule 15(2)).
- A claimed date of first use with no affidavit or evidence behind it (rule 25(2)).
- A missed one-month deadline at the deficiency or examination stage.
If the examiner objects, a reasoned reply usually decides the outcome: see Ofin's trademark objection reply service.
How Ofin handles trademark registration
Ofin's legal team prepares a free search report, settles the classes and wording, drafts Form TM-A and the authorisation, files online and sends you the filing acknowledgement. Fees start at ₹6,999 for one class with the government fee included. Objections and oppositions are handled by the same team as separate services. The work is 100% online, with a reply within 24 hours: get a fixed-price proposal.
