Understanding the Trademark Renewal Process in India

 The period of validity for trademark registration is only 10 years. After that, it can be renewed from time to time. Trademark renewal protects those rights that are only possible to a certified mark. In case the proprietor or owner fails to renew the trademark, then he/she shall lose all the security that comes along with enrollment. For instance, a registered and certified trademark has the advantage of the legal assumption of ownership. That means that the burden of verification is on others to try and deny your ownership.

How to file Trademark Renewal in India?

All registered trademarks require to be renewed after 10 years to avoid de-registration of the mark. Hence, one should be cautious with the dates and keep a constant check to avoid any delay in registering the trademark renewal. The three major steps are as follows:

Prepare TM 12: To renew the trademark, you should fill the Trademark form no.12. Make sure it should be registered by the same person on whose signature or name trademark is filed. Moreover, be careful while registering TM 12. to avoid any confusion later on.

Pay the Expected Fees: Once the form is filed correctly, the next step is to give the required payments or fees to the Trademark Department. The trademark renewal charges are class-wise, i.e. Rs.5,000 per class.

Keep TM Tracking: Once you complete the application TM 12 after paying the trademark renewal fees, make sure you do the usual tracking to guarantee the exact filing of Trademark Renewal.

What is the Trademark Renewal Period in India?

The trademark renewal time is the period of each 10 years. Every trademark requires to be renewed every ten years to overcome losing brand protection. Moreover, renewal should be made either before six months or after six months from the time of trademark registration.

Documents Required for Trademark Renewal

• A basic form to fill

• Power of Attorney

What are the Requirements of Renewal of Trademark?

There are many benefits to renewing a trademark. Registration of the trademark grants the holder of the trademark several rights that are protected by law. It limits the violation of the trademark and further provides for payment in case of such violations. It further provides the holder with the right to transfer the brand or trademark to another person or company at their will. Licensing of trademarks is only reasonable if the holder of the trademark has filed the trademark, hence a certified trademark holds enormous monetary value.

How to renew a Trademark

A registered trademark is just valid for 10 years, after which it requires to be renewed. The registrar of trademarks will assign you a letter of a notice of the expiry of the trademark 6 months before its expiry. When you are going to renew a trademark you have two choices:

1. Renew the trademark with changes and alterations.

2. Renew the trademark as it is.

• The request for the renewal of a trademark is the form TM-R.

• The statement does not require to be registered by the certified owner of the trademark, it can be made by an approved agent or a representative.

After registering the application one has to get the status of the form in case any action is listed to the registration of the trademark. Such restrictions can be registered by any person of the public.

• When the request is accepted the trademark will be issued in the official gazette the trademark journal.

• Further, if the trademark has been published then the owner of the trademark has security from another ten years.

• The trademark can be regularly renewed.

The payment for the renewal of a trademark is based on whether it has been one in-person physically or it has been done online.

• If it is done physically the filing for the renewal costs 10,000 rupees

• If it is done online via e-filing it requires 9,000 rupees

The following features are required for trademark renewal:

• A copy or sample of the registration certificate

• Copy of form TM-A (a form managed for the original application for filing the trademark)

• ID and address proof of the candidate

• Power of attorney if the candidate is an approved agent or representative

Restoration of Trademark

There can be chances that a person neglects to renew their trademark in the provided time. No worries there is still an opportunity possible in such circumstances. In the case of failure to renew one can later try to restore a trademark. Restoration of a trademark is provided by the Trademark Act, 1999 under Section25 (4) where it enables persons to ask for the restoration of the trademark. Restoration can just be done within one year of the expiry of the certified trademark.

Restoration of a trademark involves an extra fee over the renewal fee of:

• 10,000 rupees if done by a person physically

• or an added 9000 rupees if done online.