Trademark is a logo, name, sign or mark which is used to differentiate the goods or services of one party/person from those of others. Trademark may consist of drawings, symbols, shape, number, word, sound, smell and packaging of goods or colors used as distinctive feature.

Symbols

™ (for an unregistered trademark)

® (for a registered trademark)

Only owner of a registered trademark can use the symbol ® in India.. There is no prohibition on the use of the symbol ™ in India.

Applicable Act

The law of trademarks is governed by the Trade Marks Act, 1999. The Act provides for the registration of trademarks relating to goods and services in India.

Qualities of a Good Trade Mark

A good trademark should hold the following qualities-

Easy to pronounce, spell, remember.

Should be distinctive and should not have deceiving similarity.

Should not be explanatory.

Admiring word/words such as best, perfect etc. should be avoided.

Note: Registration is not mandatory but it is worthwhile to do so.

Who can apply for trademark?

An application for registration may be made by any person who wants to be the owner of a mark for such goods and services for which he is using or intends to use the mark.

The owner/ proprietor must have the intention to use the mark At the time of filing the application

Foreign proprietors can also apply for registration of trademark in India.

An application for registration can be filed in that Trademark Office in whose jurisdiction your principal place business falls. But if the principal office is not in India then the applicant can file the application in the Trademark office in whose jurisdiction the Lawyer/Attorney appointed by the applicant is situated. In case it is the company which is yet to be formed then anyone can apply for the registration on behalf of the company

Legal Requirement for the Registration of a Trademark

Mark should have the quality of being represented graphically i.e. in the paper form.

Mark should be capable of distinguish the goods/services of one party/ person from others i.e. it should be distinctive.

Mark should be used or proposed to be used in relation to goods/services for the purpose of representing or so as to represent a link in the course of trade between the goods/services.

A Trademark registration is valid for 10 years and the registration can be renewed every 10 years thereafter upon payment of renewal fee.

Steps of Trademark Registration

1. A preliminary search of existing Trademark.
2. An application for the registration of Trademark.
3. An examination of your application by the Trade Mark Registry (TMR).
4. Publication of your mark in the Trademarks Journal.
5. Opposition to the registration.
6. Correction and amendment in the application.
7. Acceptance of Registration.

Forms For Registration

Forms for new registration applications are depending on the nature of application such as Form TM-1, TM-2, TM-3, TM-8, TM-51 etc.

FormTM-5: To file a Notice of Opposition to oppose an application published in the Trade Marks Journal.

Form TM-12: For Renewal of a Regd. trademark.

Form -10: Surcharge for belated renewal.

Form TM-13: Restoration of removed mark.

Form TM-26: Application for rectification of a Reg.TM.

Form TM-46: Legal Certificate.

Form TM-54: Official search request.

Form TM-55: Preliminary advice of the Registrar as to the registrability of a mark.

Form TM-60: Copyright search request and issuance of certificate.

Requisite Document and Information for Trade Mark Registration

Power of Attorney signed by the applicant & in the case of corporate body, by the Director or Legal representative of the company. (Please note that the power of Attorney need not be Legalized or Notarized.

20 (Twenty) prints or label. For words marks/ labels are not required.

Certified copy of the application which is the basis of the convention priority (if applicable) may be filed within 3 months from the Indian filing date.

Name of the Trademark/Service Mark to be registered.

Full Names, Address, Nationality and Nature of the Business of the Applicant.

Full Name & Nationality of the Proprietor/Partners of the Applicant firm.

Date of first use of the Trademark/Service Mark in India, if any or whether it is proposed to be used.

List of goods/services and classes or services according to the International classification.

Translation of the Non-English word appearing on the mark.

Exact meaning of the mark, if any in the foreign language other then the English language.

Priority under the Paris convention can now be claimed in India. Details of Convention priority, if any first filed country, filing number and date.

Trade Mark Services

We can assist you during each and every step of your trademark registration process. Our highly efficient team helps you in the pre-registration period issues regarding trademark as well as for the maintenance of your trademark post-registration.

Trademark Search:

In order to make sure that your registration should not get refused if same trademarks are already registered/appeared on the Trademark Registry and to facilitate quick and easy registration, we provide a comprehensive trademark search to our clients.

We conduct trademark searches of the name(s) that you desire to register in respect of the products/services you want to offer. Our report will list identical/similar marks appearing on the Registry.

We also advise our clients

How to avoid contravention

How to proceed for registration in case similar/identical trademarks appear on the Trademark Registry. The trademark search report is provided within a day.

Trademark Filing & Registration:

Registration of a trademark has its own benefits as it will give you exclusive legal rights on your trademark and provides better protection of your mark.

Here our services includes :

Filing trademark application,

Preparing responses to office actions,

Filing opposition and responding to an opposition,

Attending opposition hearings whenever required to its final registration

Handling trademark registration issues.

In terms of Cost, our team provides cost effective online trademark registration services in India. We also act as a team with our international partners to help our international clients to register their mark internationally.

Trademark Renewal:

A trademark is valid for a period of ten years after its registration but after 10 years it should be renewed for another period of ten years. If a trademark is not renewed before six months of its expiry date than it will be removed from the register of Registrar.

Our team prepares a renewal instruction letter and the same will be forwarded to the Trademark Registry Office and the docket records will be updated.

Trademark Watch:

Many times Monitoring services regarding Trademark are demanded by clients so that marks published in the Trademark journal can be monitored and clients can be alerted where similar trademarks exist. We have the best team to provide the required services to protect your trademark from being copied/ infringed by others.

We provide a range of specialist management consultancy services in various functions and sectors, drawing on resources from a large domestic and international network. We pride ourselves in not being just another 'Consultancy' Organization. Our business philosophy is to add value to our client's business by providing a solution most appropriate to the business context, with specific emphasis on the implement ability of our recommendations. We believe in building long term relationships with our clients. We provide management consultancy services in areas like General Management Consultancy, Business Advisory Services, Liaison Services, Management Information Systems and System Design & Control. We also offer sound and suitable solutions for project financing through which the client will benefit. At AJSH, we fulfill the needs of the client as per status and requirement.