REGISTRATION FOR THE TRADEMARK IN INDIA

How to register for trademark in India and what are the precautions that must be taken for the filing the application for the same in India.

What is a Trademark? why we should have it registered?

It is a symbol for your identity in the market. All the important companies in the international market have the trademark registered in their name. This is primarily because of the market potential in the market for their products. If your intended market is very local and would be restricted to a certain level then it is fine if you are do not register the trademark. but if your market growing and there are many kind of competitors then, it is wiser to invest in the registration of the trademark.

There are many incidences in the market where there is small players have established the market but did not registered the trademark or had unregistered duplicate brands, simply the MNCs were watching them for the growth of the business. Once there was growth in the business then the MNCs registered the trademarks , which were in market due to the small players in their name. Thus the MNC people capture the market ready available for them.Or the opposite small players try to benefit from the same, how many of us know PEPSI footwears or C1tizen calculator?Hence to protect the interest in such situations, we can have the protection by the registration of the trademark.

How to register in the Indian Market??

Run a primary search on the indian market, check whether there are same names as in the same domains. More there are people with the similiar, meaning you require more of litigation later. Preferably check for the unique names.

Once you have selected the name/trademark, there are 02 options for the submitting for the registration 1) sumitting the trademark in the text format, (you will get the trademark for whatever you have mention) 2) Secondly you can submit  the JPEG BMP PNG files of your "designed trademark"(you will be protected for whatever you have shown in the jpeg file).

Now you have to decide the exact domain of your trademark, i.e. if the trademark is related to  the software or hardware or constructions or any other industry. If you have trademark that can be used for more then two or more industry types/domains then you have to file for the domains simultaneously. These domains are called as "Classes".

Who will confirm the class under which I have to file?

The same is freely available over the indian TMR website.

Who will register the trademark?

You can file for the registration of the trademark with the help from Trademark agents who will prepare and submit the draft to the TMR (indian trademark agency).

What is the time duration for the grant of the same?

Registration less then 01 days, confirmation requires 03 months and the grant of the trademark requires 18 months and few more months (depending on the agent).

What is the cost of the filing the trademark?

3500/- for per class is the govt fees and rest is what the "agent fees".

What are the "agents" fees?

Including the govt fees these breed of lawyers generally charge 7000-11000.

What precautions we should take for speeding approval?
1) There should be no "like named" company in our domain of functionality
2) The "agents"/"lawyer" should be properly handled as they are one who benefits the most by the "misfiling of the application". (They charge for the representation with the local trademark  office).
3) Check the application document yourself for any "grammatical mistakes".

If you require any further information, please feel to contact me. Also I am *NOT a agent so this is a correct information for the submission with due experience collected with my earlier filings.

Regards