Compliance Calendar

Trademark Registration in India: What Every Founder Should Know

Published 2 September 2026 · 6 min read

Registering your brand name feels like paperwork until someone else starts using it. Here's the actual process, what it costs, and the one class-selection decision that trips up most first-time applicants.

The process, in 5 stages

Clearance search — check the IP India Trademark Public Search portal for identical or phonetically similar existing marks before filing. Skipping this is the single most common cause of rejection.

File Form TM-A — via the IP India e-filing portal, selecting your class(es).

Examination — the Registry reviews for objections under Section 9 (the mark is too generic/descriptive) or Section 11 (conflicts with an existing mark). You get 30 days to respond to any objection.

Publication — if cleared, published in the Trademark Journal for 4 months, during which anyone can oppose it.

Registration — if unopposed, the Registrar issues the certificate, valid for 10 years and renewable indefinitely.

Realistic timeline: 6-12 months with no objection, 12-24 months if there's an objection or opposition to resolve.

The class-selection mistake that costs founders real money

Trademark protection is granted per "class" under the Nice Classification (45 classes covering different types of goods and services) — not automatically across your whole business. A founder who registers only in the class covering their core product often discovers, too late, that a closely related activity isn't actually covered.

For a services business, this commonly means: register for the core service (say, Class 45 for legal services), but also consider Class 41 if education or training is a genuine part of what you do, or Class 9 if you sell downloadable digital products. Filing multiple relevant classes together in one application is more cost-effective than adding a class later.

Fees — what to actually budget

Applicant type	Fee per class (e-filing)
Individual, Startup, or Small Enterprise	₹4,500
Other (companies not qualifying above)	₹9,000

A personal Udyam or DPIIT certificate in the founder's name does not transfer the lower rate to a company — if you incorporate later, the company needs its own qualifying registration to keep the individual/startup rate.

Word mark or logo — a real, separate decision

A pure word mark (just the brand name as text) and a logo/device mark are legally different things, and cannot be bundled into one application without a real tradeoff. Filing them as a combined "composite mark" is cheaper, but Section 17 of the Trade Marks Act means you only get rights to the exact combination shown — not the word alone, and not the logo alone. If protecting the word itself is the actual goal, file it separately from the logo, even if that means two applications over time rather than one.

Documents you'll typically need

Form TM-A itself, identity proof (PAN and Aadhaar for individuals), a clear representation of the mark, and — if claiming you've already been using the mark commercially — an Affidavit of Prior Use with supporting evidence (invoices, website screenshots, dated social media posts). Filing on a "proposed to be used" basis instead avoids needing this evidence, but a genuine prior-use claim, properly evidenced, is generally a stronger position.

Even a mark that seems clear on an exact-match search can still face a Section 9 objection if it's judged too descriptive of the underlying service — a purely phonetic clearance search doesn't catch this. Budget for the possibility of responding to an objection; it's a normal, survivable part of the process, not a sign something went wrong.

Licensing your brand to a partner or franchisee?

A registered trademark alone isn't enough — proper licensing terms with quality control provisions matter too.

View Trademark License Agreement →

Sources: Trade Marks Act, 1999 (Sec 9, 11, 17, 48-49); IP India e-filing portal fee schedule, verified September 2026. This is general legal information, not legal advice — consult an enrolled advocate or trademark agent for your specific application.