Sound Board

Our thoughts and views on the practice of Intellectual Property in India and around the world.

One question I am often asked regarding trademarks whenever I discuss IP law with a group of young budding students, entrepreneurs or startup companies is "How to register a trademark in India?". There are several articles and blogs that explains how to register a trademark in India in one way or the other but I hope that this post will be comprehensive enough to answer most of them.

There are several resources online that will tell you how to register your trademark in India, with a neatly drawn flow chart for clarity and some websites that promise trademark registration in a day or even faster. What you won’t be told is the time that it will take you from one step to another on that flow chart and the constant tussle you have to face with the trademark office.

When you file an application for registration of a trademark you need to mention the list of goods/services for which you intend to use the trademark. India follows an international system of classification of goods and services called the "Nice Classification" according to which the goods and services are categorized into 45 classes, with goods covered in classes 1 to 34 and services covered under classes 35 to 45.