This post was fist published on 16th February, 2011.
A trade mark is a representation for a trade or business of a person. Though registration of a trade mark is not mandatory, registering a mark provides many benefits for enforcing trade mark rights. In order to register a trade mark in India, an application must be filed at any of the five trade mark offices in India.
Where to file a Trade Mark application?
The trade mark offices in India are located at Mumbai, Ahmadabad, Kolkata, New Delhi and Chennai
Different states in the Union of India have been divided amongst these offices. Below is the list of states that fall within the jurisdiction of each of the offices:
- Mumbai: State of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Goa
- Ahmadabad: States of Gujarat and Rajasthan and the Union Territories of Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
- Kolkata : Arunachal Pradesh , Assam , Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal , Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya , Sikkim , Tripura and Union Territories of Nagaland, Andaman & Nikobar Islands.
- New Delhi: States of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh Delhi and the Union Territories of Chandigarh.
- Chennai: Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and the Union Territories of Pondicherry and Lakshadweep Island.
Any person who intends to apply for registration of their Trademark has to file the application before the Trademark office under whose jurisdiction the principal place of business of the applicant falls. Here principal place of business means the primary place where the applicant carries on his business in India. In case the application is by joint applicants, the Trademark office considers the place of business of the first applicant mentioned as the principal place of business.
Further, if the principal place of business is outside India, then the application can be filed in the Trademark office under whose jurisdiction the address of service is provided. This generally is the Trademark agent’s or the attorney’s address.
Who can file?
A trade mark can be filed by any person / trader / merchant / service provider who claims to be the proprietor of the trademark used or proposed to be used or wishes to use the same for his goods or services. A person may file the trade mark by himself or through a trade mark agent or attorney.
Trade Mark Search
Before making an application for registration it is prudent to conduct a trademark search in the Trademark office. A trademark clearance search is the search in the database of Indian Trademark Registry for existing marks (Registered or applied). If a trader wishes to use any mark as his trademark, then this search will help him in ascertaining whether any same or similar mark already exists or not. Accordingly the trader can strategize whether he should go ahead with that mark or not.
In India, the Trademark search can be done in the database of trade marks provided by the Indian Trade Mark Office. Recently this facility has been made free in India. The trade mark database provides information about new applications which are filed for registration, registered marks, published marks, opposed marks and abandoned marks.
Filing the application.
Basically there are two ways to file a trademark application.
1. Paper filing and
2. Online filing.
Filing Documents
The Document/ Information require for filing a Trade Mark Application-
• Trademark name (logo/Device/word /symbol)
• Applicant name, nationality, address and
• Registered description of the Applicant (Individual/ partnership firm/ joint firm/ Hindu undivided family/ body incorporate/ society/ trust as the case may be).
• Trade description of the Applicant – such as Manufacturer / Service Provider / Distributor or as the case may be.
• Date of Use of the trademark (if the trademark is proposed to be use, date of use is not required).
• Class of the Trademark
• Description of Goods or services.
For filing an ordinary application other than conventional application in a single class the prescribed form is TM -1 and the statutory fee for e-filing a Trademark application per class is Rs. 4500/- where the applicant is an Individual / Startup/Small Enterprise, and Rs. 9,000/- in all other cases.
About BananaIP Counsels Trademark Attorneys
This post is brought to you by the Trademark, Copyright, IP Transactional Strategy Divisions of BananaIP Counsels, a Top IP Firm in India. Led by Sanjeeth Hegde, BananaIP Counsels’ trademark attorneys are among the leading experts in the field. If you have any questions, or need any clarifications, please write to contact@bananaip.com.
The weekly trademark information initiative is a part of their pro bono work and is aimed at spreading trademark awareness. You are free to share the news with appropriate attribution and backlink to the source.
Disclaimer
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