In India, application for a trademark is made at one of the five offices of the Trade Marks Registry located at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad. This will depend on the place where you reside or have your main place of business. You will need to do a pre-filing search before filing your trademark.

Once you register your trademark, you will be issued an official receipt with a TM number. Then an examination report is filed within three months from application. You will get a response to your registration either by an affidavit, a hearing or by an interview. Your application will be looked at to ascertain if it does not conflict with existing registered or pending trademarks.

After the objections raised by the registrar are overcome, your application is then published in the Indian Trade Marks Journal, with an endorsement stating either that it has been accepted or that it is being published before acceptance. Once it is published, any person has three months (which can be extended to a month at the registrar’s discretion) to file a notice of opposition to registration. Acceptance or refusal of your trademark application will be considered once the opposition proceedings have been completed. Based on this, an examination report is issued.

The term of registration of a trademark is 10 years. This may be renewed for a further period of 10 years on payment of the renewal fees. However, non-usage of a registered trademark for a continuous period of five years is a valid ground for cancellation of registration of such trademark at the behest of any aggrieved party.