Trademark Filing and Fee
Trademark Filing
As per Indian Trademark law, an exclusive legal right for use of the mark is given to the owner of the Trademark. Under the trademark law there are many types of trademarks that a person can apply for. The documents required and official filing fee varies as per the specifications. Trademark can be filed by :
- An individual or a person
- Indian company
- Partnership firm
- Limited liability partnership
- Joint owners
- Society or trust
- Proprietorship firm
The proprietor of a trademark can apply for the registration of the mark if he is already using the said mark or on a proposed to be used basis i.e. intent to use the mark in future.
A person/organization can also apply for Collective Trademark. Collective trademark means the Trademark applied by an organisation or association and is utilised by the members of that organisation /association for e.g. Institute of Chartered Accountant of India (ICAI) and the members i.e. the Chartered Accountants of the ICAI would be able to use the logos as they are members and they would not have to apply for a separate Trademark, they can use the one collectively acquired and registered as a collective Trademark.
Same way there are certification mark, which means whoever will be able to fulfil condition of the certification marks, only they would be able to use those marks. You might have seen the ISI marks on various products. Only people authorised to have that certification would be able to do so after fulfilling all the conditions laid down by ISI.
To be proprietor of the trademark an applicant must possess a definite claim to the mark sought to be registered by him/her.
The surest means of acquiring effective trade mark rights is to obtain registration in India. The use has to be in the course of trade or business (it includes prior user, concurrent user, used by him/her, etc.).
Trademark Fee
Let’s talk about registration fee of a Trademark in India. There are 2 fee structures:
- Individual Start-up/ Small enterprise (Proprietorship)- The fee structure for applying online you would have to pay an amount of 4500 INR and if you want to do physical filing 5000 INR
- Corporate (Private Limited Company, Partnership Firms, Limited Liability company (LLC) etc.)- The fee structure doubles, so to apply online you would have to pay an amount of 9000 INR and if you want to do physical filing 10,000 INR.
This fee is applicable for one Trademark. Suppose you want to register 4 Trademarks then you would have to submit 4 applications (4500X4=18000 INR). But if are a Private or public limited company then the fees would be double i.e. (9000 X 4 = 36000 INR).
Before beginning the trademark registration process, the entrepreneur or a trademark professional must conduct a Trademark search of the trademark database. A Trademark is an important asset for a business and it protect the company’s investment in the brand or symbol. After making sure whether a mark is already in use or not the trademark attorney will draft your Trademark application with the trademark office if the mark is not already in use. After this in a few days you will get the original representation sheet of your Trademark.