How to do Renewal of Trademark Registration?

Trademarks are graphical representations that help people differentiate your goods and services from other people in the market. Trademarks are unique marks which are generally graphical in nature and establish a contrast between the products of two different manufacturers or producers. These trademarks are registered with the Trademark Registry Offices under the Trademark Act issued in 1999.

The registered trademarks like logos, symbols, labels and names are represented by an “R” at their end. However, a trademark that is found to be offensive or non-distinct or has any government emblem will not be registered under the Trademark Act.

There are a total of five trademark registries established in India. These registries are established in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Chennai. If a trademark holder has registered his trademark under the Trademark Act, he will get to enjoy special rights to use that trademark and the trademark will remain protected by the laws and can not be copied or used by any other individual. However, there is a limitation period of 10 years of the registered trademarks. Also, if you do not make use of a trademark under five years of registering it, its registration will be nullified if someone else requests for it.

The government of India allows people to perform a trademark registration renewal every ten years for as long as they want. The trademark holder is provided a six month time period for trademark registration renewal by the Registrar before the completion of ten years. If due to some reason, a trademark holder fails to perform a trademark registration renewal, that person will be provided with the restoration option ie.e he will be permitted to perform a trademark registration renewal but penalties will be levied. 

What is need of trademark registration renewal?

A trademark holder enjoys a lot of advantages if he does a trademark registration renewal. Once you perform a trademark registration renewal, you will be awarded various special rights that remain protected by the law. These laws rectify the possibility of infringement of your registered trademark and also ensure that you receive compensation if someone tries to infringe your trademark.

These rights also permit a trademark holder to transfer their registered trademark to some other company or someone else if they want to. The licensing of trademarks can also be done if the trademark holder has registered his trademark and hence it can be said that a trademark that has been registered holds immense monetary value.

How to perform a trademark registration renewal?

A trademark remains valid for 10 years after registration. If you wish to do a trademark registration renewal then you need to follow the steps listed below. You will receive a letter of reminder from the registrar of Trademarks before 6 months of expiry of your registered trademark. When you perform a trademark registration renewal, you will have to choose between renewing the trademark as it is or renewing the trademark after making a few changes and alterations.

The application that is required to be filed in order to perform a trademark registration renewal is the TM-R Form. This form for trademark registration renewal can be filed by any auhtorized agent or representative of the trademark holder.

Once you filed the application, you will have to follow its status to check whether you face any sort of opposition for trademark registration renewal. An opposition can be filed by anyone from the public. After the application gets approved, the trademark will get published in The Trademark Journal which is the official gazette. The trademark owner will be provided protected rights for the trademark for 10 more years if the trademark gets published. Also, an indefinite number of trademark registration renewal can be performed on a single trademark.

The amount of money that will be needed for trademark registration renewal will depend on whether the trademark registration renewal has been performed online or offline. If the trademark registration renewal has been done online then it will cost the trademark holder a total of Rs. 9,000. However, if the trademark registration renewal has been done manually or offline, then the total cost of the renewal will be Rs. 10,000.

In order to perform a trademark registration renewal you will need the following documents:

• A copy of the trademark registration certificate
• Copy of theTM-A Form
• A Address proof and an identity proof of the applicant
• If the applicant is an Agent or An authorized representative, then they will need a power of attorney

Restoring a Trademark

Sometimes people fail to do a trademark registration renewal in the specified time period. In such cases, the applicant does not have to worry as he can try to restore the trademark. The Trademark Act allows the restoration of trademarks under Section 25(4). Under this, the applicant is allowed to apply for a restoration.

However, the restoration provisions can only be performed within one year of the expiration of the registered trademark. The restoration can be done by paying an additional fee that is levied in the form of a penalty on the trademark holder for failing to perform a trademark registration renewal.