Search 

 

A trade mark search may be conducted at the IPO website http://124.124.193.236/tmrpublicsearch/tmsearch.aspx and there is no official fee for such searches.

 

Application 

 

A trade mark application may be filed in India in the form of:

 

An ordinary application: An ordinary application covers only one class of goods/ services.

 

A multi-class application: A multi-class application covers more than one class of goods/ services.

 

A convention application: A convention application claims a convention priority and it is possible to file a single class or a multi-class convention application.

 

A series mark application: A series mark may consist of several trade marks, in respect of same or similar goods or services, which resemble each other in the material particulars thereof, yet differ in respect of – goods/ services in respect of which they are used/ proposed to be used; or statement of number, price, quality or names of places; or other matter of non-distinctive character which does not substantially affect the identity of the mark; or colour.

 

A collective mark application: A collective mark application may consist of a trade mark which distinguishes the goods or services of members of an association of persons (not a partnership) from those of others.

 

A certification trade mark application: A certification trade mark means a mark capable of distinguishing the goods or services in connection with which it is used in the course of trade which are certified by the proprietor of the mark in respect of origin, material, mode of manufacture of goods or performance of services, quality, accuracy or other characteristics from goods or services not so certified and registrable as such under chapter IX of the Act in respect of those goods or services in the name, as proprietor of the certification trade mark, of that person.

 

 

E-Filing

 

It is possible to file a trade mark application electronically in India. While the e-filing module of the IPO requires some expertise and training, its is certainly a good investment to eliminate the problem of data entry mistakes by the IPO which lead to numerous publication errors and errors in registration certificates.

 

 

Classification

 

For the purposes of trade mark registration, all goods and services are divided into 45 classes and the official application fee is payable per mark per class.

 

India follows 10th edition of NICE Classification and the classification mentioned in the fourth Schedule of the Trade Marks Rules is nearly identical of the NICE Classification.

 

Detailed NICE classification is available at http://www.wipo.int/classifications/nivilo/nice/index.htm#

 

Another useful tool for searching trade mark classification is available at:

 

http://tmclass.tmdn.org/ec2/?lang=en

 

http://www.ipindia.nic.in/tmr_new/tmr_notice/classification_GoodsServices_29November2013.pdf

 

 

 

Priority Claim

 

Any person who has duly filed a trade mark application in one of the convention countries, such person or his successor in title, shall enjoy, for the purpose of filing in India or other member countries, a right of priority for a period of 6 months.

 

Accordingly, any person may claim priority of a foreign trade mark application within 6 months of the said foreign application date. Similar priority rights are available to Indians for foreign trade mark applications in convention countries.

 

In case an applicant in India claims a priority, it is a mandatory requirement to file a certified copy of priority document with English Translation within 2 months of Indian filing date. There is no extra cost as long as these documents are filed within said 2 month period.

 

 

Translation & Transliteration

 

Where a trade mark sought to be registered contains any characters which are not in English or Hindi, the applicant is required to file a translation and transliteration of such characters/ words along with the name of the language to which the same belong.

 

 

Excess Characters Fee

 

Where any specification of goods/ services contains more than 500 characters in a class, an additional official fee of 20 cents for each character in excess of 500 becomes payable. Such fee is payable upfront on filing date in case of e-filing of applications.