Trademark Search Services
A trademark search is essential before adopting or applying for your brand name or logo registration. Most importantly, conducting a trademark search helps identify your mark’s registrability.
In a case similar names exist during the search, the possibility of getting your mark registered is remote. For this reason, a trademark search is important before filing a trademark application.
Firstly, a trademark search will demonstrate whether someone else has already registered your trademark or proposed mark. If you adopt a registered trademark, you may invite a trademark infringement lawsuit. In addition, infringement suits may result in paying monetary damages, discontinuing your trademark use, or both.
Secondly, it would clearly list any prior trademark registrations or pending applications. Therefore, similar marks may prevent you from registering your brand name with the Trademark Registry. This would, in turn, save time and money in filing a trademark application that has little chance of getting registered.
Thirdly, it would help you assess the relative strength of your mark by showing you how many other similar trademarks are already there in the marketplace, apart from the trademark registered in Trademark Registry.
We offer comprehensive trademark search services and a registrability opinion for the brand name(s) or logo you desire to register regarding the products/services you wish to offer. The search report would list identical or similar marks and phonetically similar ones appearing on the Registry.
We also advise on the possibility of proceeding with registration and/or avoiding infringement in case similar/identical trademarks appear in the Trademark Registry database. In general, we provide trademark registration and search reports within 24 hours.
Besides trademark search services in India, we offer International trademark searches in the USA, EUIPO, Canada, and Global Brand Database.
Trademark Registration Services
n India, trademark registration is done by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, which is a part of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The Trade Marks Act 1999 governs the law related to trademarks in India. The Act came into force on December 15, 1999, and has been amended several times since then.
The primary objective of the Act is to protect the trademark rights of the trademark owner and to prevent the use of a trademark that is likely to cause confusion or deception.
Registering a trademark (brand name, company name, logo, symbol, or device) has the advantage of gaining exclusive legal rights to your trademark and accords better protection of your mark. Therefore, it is the first step of establishing your brand name.
Registering a distinctive trademark helps to distinguish your goods and services from others in the market. Besides, it also works as a deterrent to others who want to pass off their goods like yours.
Trademark registration in India is mainly based on the priority of the user’s date of the mark. However, the application can also be made for the proposed mark.
The filing process for trademark registration in India may take about a year to complete. After filing the trademark application, there may be an objection during the examination, so one needs to respond to such an office examination. Once the Trademark Office is satisfied with the responses, the TM office will publish the application in the Trademark Journal.
After that, anyone can oppose the registration within three/four months of the publication. If opposed, the Trademark Registrar asks each party to present his case and allows or denies registration accordingly. Furthermore, to ensure no delays in the trademark registration procedure, care should be taken to choose a distinctive trademark to reduce the chances of opposition.
Intepat – Your Trademark Partner
Intepat’s team of highly experienced trademark agents and attorneys understand the nuances underlying such registration and are adept at handling online trademark filing in India.
We help from filing a trademark application to its final trademark registration in India. Further, we smoothly handle the entire process of trademark registration, namely
i) preparing responses to examination report;
ii) preparing and submitting responses to provisional refusals in India [Madrid Trademark];
iii) filing an opposition;
iv) responding to an opposition;
v) amendment of applications; and also
vi) attending opposition hearings whenever required
We provide cost-effective and efficient services for trademark registration in Bangalore, India, and internationally. Besides registration services in India, we collaborate with our international partners to help our clients register their marks internationally.
Trademark Renewal Services
Trademark protection is perpetual. Therefore, trademark protection is accorded for a period of ten years at first. The trademarks registered in India can be renewed periodically for an additional ten years by filing Form TM-R with the trademark registrar. The first renewal should be filed within one year before the expiry of the ten-year period. Each subsequent renewal should be filed within one year from the date of expiry of the preceding period of ten years.
Before filing for a trademark renewal, it is advisable to confirm whether the same is still registered or not with the trademark registrar. A trademark can also be renewed for an unlimited number of times if there is no objection from the trademark registrar.
The trademark registration in India can be renewed after expiration but within six months after the expiry of registration by paying late renewal fees along with a prescribed form.
If not renewed even after six months from the expiry date, the trademark mark will be removed from the Trademark Register. However, even after the trademark removal, it can be restored by filing an application for restoration of the trademark to the Registrar and paying additional fees after six months and within one year from the expiry date. However, if not renewed within the prescribed period, re-filing of the application would be required to register the Trademark.
Unlike patents, copyrights or industrial design trademark rights can last indefinitely if the owner continues to use the mark. However, if a registered trademark is not renewed, it is liable to be removed from the trademark registry.
Our trademark renewal services include the preparation of a request for trademark renewal, which undergoes our quality review process. The same is forwarded to the Trademark Registry Office, and the docket records are updated.
Further, we offer trademark renewal services in the USA, Europe, China, Japan, and Madrid, among others.
Trademark Watch Services
Trademark is an important IP asset that adds considerable value to your business. A trademark can command tremendous reputation and goodwill. Therefore, it is important we diligently protect our trademark from being infringed by others. Trademark Watch helps in tracking existing and potential trademarks. It also helps in identifying similar trademarks that might cause public confusion or has the potential to dilute your trademark’s reputation.
To protect your important trademark from potential infringement with the third party, trademark status and trademark watching are performed for both word and device marks.
Trademark watch reports give you the data you have to act rapidly against a trademark that may be confusingly like yours.
For word marks, we report recently distributed indistinguishable and phonetically indistinguishable trademarks in all trademark classes, in addition, to a confusingly comparative trademark in one chosen class. For device marks, we report recently published identical or similar trademarks in a class or classes similar to yours. English interpretations of Goods and Services are included for most registers at no extra cost.
To protect their trademark from being infringed by others and for a timely opposition, many a time, trademark status monitoring services are sought by clients wherein marks published in the Trademark journal need to be watched, and clients are alerted in case similar trademarks appear. This service helps one to file for timely oppositions so that registration of similar trademarks can be avoided.
We perform not only word mark watch but also searches of phonetically and visually similar trademarks.
