Renewal & Restoration of Trademark Registration

Trademark registration in India must be renewed every 10 years failing which the trademark is liable to be removed from the register of trademarks.

Intimation of renewal due by the Indian trademark office

  1. It is mandatory for the Indian trademark office to send the O-3 notice to the trademark owner about the upcoming trademark renewal.
  2. O-3 notice must be sent not more than 6 months prior to the expiry of the trademark registration.
  3. A registered trademark can be removed from the register of trademarks for non-renewal only if the O-3 notice has been duly served on the trademark owner/trademark agent.

Renewal of trademark registration

An application for the renewal of trademark registration in India should be made in Form TM-R along with the prescribed fees of Rs.9000 per class anytime within one year prior to the expiry of the registration of the trademark.

Renewal of trademark registration with surcharge

  1. An application for renewal can still be filed within 6 months from the expiration of the date of registration by payment of an additional surcharge fee of Rs.4500 per class.
  2. If an application for renewal is not filed within the 6 months grace period from the expiration of the date of registration, the trademark registration is deemed to have expired and the trademark shall be removed from the register of trademarks.

Restoration of trademark registration

  1. An application for restoration of a trademark registration can be filed after 6 months but within 1 year from the date of the expiry of the trademark registration by payment of the restoration fee of Rs.9000 per class.
  2. The trademark office shall assess the interest of other affected persons while considering the request for such restoration and renewal.

Registration of trademark after the renewal date

In the event of a trademark been granted registration anytime within six months before the renewal due date or any time after the renewal due date, the due date to renew such registration will be 6 months from the date of receipt of the Registration certificate. This is a rare occasion specially in case of old applications when its registration took more than the protection term of 10 years. Now that the Indian trademark office is granting registrations in 6 to 18 months, this situation does not arise.

Upon acceptance of the requests for renewal and/or restoration, the trademark office shall notify the same to the trademark owner/trademark agent and the same is advertised in the Trademarks Journal.

Information and documents required

Trademark application number and a scanned copy of the POA simply signed by the authorised signatory of the trademark owner. Legalization, Notarization or Apostille of the POA is not required.

Forms and official fees

Description of the requests Forms and official fees
Request for renewal Form TM-R with an official fee of Rs. 9000 per class
Request for renewal with surcharge Form TM-R with an official fee of Rs.4500 per class + renewal fee of Rs.9000 per class
Request for restoration of the trademark registration and renewal Form TM-R with an official fee of Rs. 9000 per class + renewal fee of Rs. 9000 per class

Articles on renewal of trademarks in India

Delhi High Court holds that a Trademark cannot be removed for non-renewal without giving notice to the proprietor

Importance of O-3 Notice – Trademark renewal reminder

Trademark renewal – The Indian scenario. Only a single chance?