India Trademark Registration

The trademark is valid as long as you renew it. You can renew your trademark registration in India every 10 years. The 10 year period of registration is reckoned from the date of filing of the application, which is deemed to be the date of registration. The Indian trademark Registrar issues renewal reminder notice before the expiration of registration of the mark duly indicating the date of expiration and the condition as to payment of renewal fees. The notice is sent to the proprietor or in the case of jointly owned mark to each such proprietors and each registered user at the address specified. The notice is issued not more than one month and not less than two months before the expiration of last registration. If no renewal fee is paid the trademark expires. After the expiry of registration, the mark becomes liable to be removed from the register. Once a trademark is removed, it is not possible to take any action and the mark is deemed to be expired.

The examination includes the absolute grounds for refusal. The examiner analysis if the mark is capable of distinguishing the goods/services of one person from those of another person and has a distinctive character. Also, the registrable mark is compared with the prior trademarks to see if there is no conflict with the earlier marks. It is also analyzed whether the registrability of the mark is not prohibited on the ground that the mark consists of the name of a chemical element or an international non-proprietory name or is not against the public morals.

Yes, a domain name can be registered as a trademark. It is common-place for traders to have their electronic mail address and use the same in respect of their goods/services as a trade name. In other words, the domain name is being used as a trade name or trademark, and the Indian trademark Registrar will, subject to the usual criteria of the trademark act, permit domain names to be registered as trademarks. Elements of the domain name such as “.com” or “.co.in” are considered to be totally non-distinctive, much in the same way as “Ltd” and “Plc”. As a general rule, one should consider whether the remainder of the mark is descriptive or non-distinctive.

No, you cannot. Indian trademark law provides a penalty for falsely representing a trademark as ‘registered’. If the trademark office finds that a person represents a trademark as registered in India and this is proved to be untrue, then the person can be fined. The law prohibits a person from representing a trademark, which is not registered, to the effect that it is a registered trademark; or to represent a part of a registered trademark, not being a part separately registered, to the effect that it is separately registered, or to represent a registered trademark as registered in respect of any goods or services in respect of which it is not in fact registered, or to represent that registration of a trade mark given an exclusive right to the use thereof in any circumstances in which, having regard to limitations entered on the register, the registration does not, in fact, give that right. However, if a person makes a statement or representation that a mark is registered, without implying that it is registered in India and the mark indeed is registered in another country, then no fine will be issued. The mark must be in fact registered abroad and the reference to the foreign registration must be true.