A trademark registration is not permanent, but it can be perpetual — provided you renew it. The rules are simple enough to state and easy enough to miss, and the consequence of missing all of them is removal from the register.
The ten-year term
In India a trademark registration is valid for 10 years, running from the date of application (which is treated as the date of registration). It can be renewed for further ten-year periods indefinitely — there is no limit on the number of renewals.
The three windows
1. The renewal window — from one year before expiry. A renewal application can be filed at any point in the 12 months before the registration expires. This is the window to aim for; everything after it costs more.
2. The grace period — six months after expiry. If the deadline passes, renewal remains possible for a further six months after expiry, on payment of additional fees (a surcharge on top of the renewal fee).
3. Restoration — between six and twelve months after expiry. Once the grace period lapses, the route is no longer renewal but restoration. An application for restoration and renewal can be filed after six months and before twelve months from expiry.
After twelve months, the mark is removed from the register. At that point the registration is gone, and the only path back is a fresh application — with no guarantee that the intervening period has left the register clear.
What renewal does not involve
One point worth stating plainly, because it is commonly misunderstood: renewal in India is not conditional on proving use of the mark. The Registry does not examine whether the mark has been used, and does not re-examine registrability at renewal. It is an administrative process — file the application, pay the fee, and the registration continues for another ten years.
Use matters, but through a different mechanism: a third party may seek cancellation for non-use where the mark has not been used for a continuous period of five years and three months. That is a contested proceeding brought by someone else, not something the Registry raises at renewal.
The notice you shouldn’t rely on
Under Section 25(3) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, the Registrar must send the registered proprietor notice of the approaching expiry and the conditions for renewal — the O-3 notice. This is mandatory, and courts have repeatedly held that a mark cannot be removed for non-renewal where no such notice was served.
That is a genuine protection, and worth knowing about if your mark has already been removed. It is a poor operational plan. The notice depends on the Registry having your current address for service, on it actually sending the notice, and on that reaching you. Proprietors have had to approach the High Courts repeatedly to restore marks removed without notice — a good remedy, but a slow and expensive one.
What to actually do
- Diarise the expiry date independently — from your own records, not the Registry’s reminder.
- Set the reminder at 12 months before expiry, when the renewal window opens, rather than at the deadline itself.
- Keep the address for service current at the Registry, including the email address, so the statutory notice has somewhere to arrive.
- Review the portfolio at renewal. Renewal is the natural moment to ask which marks still matter, whether the specification still matches what you sell, and whether anything needs adding.
For a portfolio of any size, renewal is the single most avoidable way to lose a valuable right — the deadlines are known years in advance, and the only real failure mode is not tracking them.
The takeaways
- Ten years, renewable indefinitely — from the date of application.
- File within the 12 months before expiry — the cheapest and safest window.
- Six-month grace period with a surcharge, then restoration between six and twelve months.
- Renewal doesn’t require proof of use — but non-use for five years and three months exposes the mark to cancellation.
Frequently asked questions
How long is a trademark registration valid in India? Ten years from the date of application, renewable indefinitely for further ten-year periods.
When can I file for renewal? Any time in the 12 months before expiry. After expiry, renewal is possible for six months with additional fees, and restoration between six and twelve months.
What happens if I miss all the deadlines? The mark is removed from the register twelve months after expiry, and you would need to file a fresh application.
Does renewal require proof that I’ve used the mark? No — renewal is administrative and not conditional on use. Non-use is addressed separately, through cancellation proceedings brought by a third party.
Useful official resources
- The Trade Marks Act, 1999
- Trade Marks Registry — IP India