Trademark Registration Online in India

What can you protect with trademark registration?

A trademark is any sign that sets your goods or services apart from someone else's. Trademark registration in India can protect:

• Word marks – a brand or product name in plain text, protected in any font or style
• Logos and device marks – a graphic, symbol or stylised name
• Slogans and taglines
• Shapes, packaging, colour combinations and sound marks, where they are distinctive
• Collective and certification marks for associations and standards bodies

If you can file only one application, a word mark usually gives the broadest protection because it covers the name however it is written. A logo can be filed separately.

Choosing the right trademark class

Trademarks are registered class by class under the Nice Classification – 45 classes in all, 1 to 34 for goods and 35 to 45 for services. Your registration protects the mark only in the classes you file in, so choosing them correctly matters.

We recommend classes based on what you sell today and what you plan to sell in the next few years.

The trademark registration process and timeline

You can use the ™ symbol from the day you file. The ® symbol may be used only after registration – using it earlier is an offence.

What our trademark search checks

Before filing, we search the Trade Marks Registry for:

• identical and similar-sounding marks in your classes and in related classes;
• similar logos and device marks, if you are registering a logo;
• pending applications and opposed marks that could block yours.

You get a short report with our view of the risk and, where needed, suggestions to adjust the name or the classes before you file – which is far cheaper than fighting an objection later.

Government fees for trademark registration

The official fee for each class is ₹4,500 for individuals, startups and small enterprises (with a DPIIT or Udyam certificate) and ₹9,000 for other applicants when filed online. If your mark covers three classes, the government fee applies three times. Our professional fee is shown on this page.

How to choose a strong trademark

• Invented or unrelated words – a made-up name, or an ordinary word used for something unrelated – are the easiest to register and protect.
• Descriptive words such as "Best Biryani" for a restaurant or "Fresh Juice" for juice are usually objected to.
• Common surnames, place names and praise words are hard to register on their own.
• Search before you brand – check for similar marks in your classes before you invest in signage, packaging and a website.

Who should be the applicant?

File in the name of whoever owns the brand: an individual or sole proprietor in their own name, a partnership firm in the partners' names, and a company or LLP in its own name. If a founder files before the company is formed, the mark can later be moved to the company through a trademark assignment.

After your trademark is registered

A registered trademark is valid for 10 years from the application date and can be renewed indefinitely through trademark renewal. Registration lets you act against copies through infringement and passing-off cases, license the brand through a licensing agreement or franchise, and use it as the base for international filings under the Madrid Protocol.

Protecting your brand beyond registration

• Use the mark consistently – the registered name or logo, on the goods and services it covers.
• Watch for copycats – keep an eye on the Trade Marks Journal for similar marks filed by others, and oppose them within the deadline.
• Use it on marketplaces – platforms such as Amazon run brand-registry programmes that ask for a trademark application or registration.
• Record licences and assignments with the registry when someone else uses or buys the mark.
• Renew on time – a mark that is not renewed can be removed from the register.

If the examiner objects, our team handles the trademark objection reply and, if needed, the trademark hearing. If someone opposes your mark, see trademark opposition. Creative work such as content, software code and artwork is protected through copyright registration.