Registering your trademark in India is not only a legal requirement but also a smart move for your company in the fast-paced business world of today. The Digital India effort has resulted in a major streamlining of the trademark registration procedure, rendering it more accessible to enterprises of all sizes. This in-depth tutorial seeks to clarify the steps and costs involved in registering a trademark in India so that you are prepared to safeguard register your brand successfully. The goal of filing a multiclass trademark registration application is to register a trademark or service mark under two or more designated product/service classes. Both of these types of trademark applications are permitted by Indian trademark law. Therefore, we as one of the most esteemed and prominent intellectual property rights law firms in India, with our headquarters located in Delhi, provide quick and professional trademarks filing service for these two types of applications across the country.
Significance of registering a trademark
The trademark guards the product’s branding through registration against being improperly used by other brands registration. It offers a means of preventing someone from abusing their company. It offers a feature that sets the products and services apart. Additionally, if the register a brand name grows in the market, the trademark automatically expands, making it a valuable asset for the business. A trademark gives a brand registration a distinct identity and helps it differentiate itself from competing brands registration that offer the same products or services. Most significantly, as people begin to recognize the goods, the trademark serves as a tool for simple communication, making it easier for buyers to identify and connect with the product. To register a brand is unaffected even though it must be renewed every ten years; however, in order to maintain trademark protection, the renewal process must be started a year before the registered trademark expires. If this is not done, the trademark is deleted but can be restored using the approved procedure.
As the Indian government ratified the NICE agreement, the Indian trademark recognizes multiple classes according to the NICE categorization. 45 classes have been created from these classifications based on different kinds of items. It takes longer and costs more money to register a divisional trademark application than a single application. However, class 99 allows all trademarks belonging to different classes to be applied for in a single application. Additionally, it lessens the labor and effort required for similar administrative tasks when the applicant files an application. It gets considerably simpler to record and make modifications when these trademarks are renewed.
What is the cost to apply for a single or multi class trademark in India?
The application for registration of a trademark under a certain class is commonly referred to as an ordinary trademark application. It is submitted using Form TM-A and the current Trade Marks Rules charges of INR 6,500/- If client have govt. MSME where as the govt fee will be INR 4500/-; if user don’t have govt MSME certificate with them then charges for single application for a trademark is 11,200/- where as the govt fee will be INR 9,000/-. Additionally, the same trademark application filed using Form TM-A that requests registration within two or more/multiple class is known as a multiclass trademark application. It is important to note that the government charges INR 4,500/- per class for filing a multi-class trademark application if client have govt. MSME certificate otherwise government charges would be INR 9000/-. This implies that if an applicant files a single Form TM-A application and wishes to register his trademark or service mark under three different classes of goods or services, they must also pay INR 33,600/- including govt fees. To assist our numerous Indian and international visitors, we provides more information about submitting an individual class or multiple class trademarks application in India.
Single class Trademark Registration: Due to their widespread use, companies that wish to register their trademark or service mark under several classes of goods or services still employ single class trademark applications. It goes without saying that the applicant will need to submit several TM-A Forms, one for each class, individually for this reason. It is obvious that filing numerous TM-A Forms and pursuing separate registrations for each of them according to the desired classes will require a lot more work and time than filing only one multiclass application for trademark registrations under each of those classes.
Multiclass Trademark Registration: A company’s trademark is its most important asset. It is the surface that clients use to recognize the company. The trademark represents the company’s goodwill and helps consumers recognize the relevant goods or services among the millions of others available on the market. It establishes the customer’s initial impression of the company and clarifies what to anticipate from the goods and services offered under the relevant trade name.
The Trademarks Act of 1999 and the Trademark regulations of 2017 regulate the online trademark registration process. The categorization of products and services for registration purposes is highlighted in the trademark rules. It adheres to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) NICE categorization. Trademark class 45 consists of 34 trademarks assigned to products and 11 trademarks assigned to services. About 80,000 distinct goods and services fall under the many classes covered by the classification.
Classification
In essence, the classification is a methodical organization of different kinds of products and services. For example, a business selling paints would file an application under trademark class 2, whereas a restaurant looking to protect its offerings would file under class 43. Additionally, a business may produce goods that fall under more than trademarks class 1. Let’s say “ABC Limited” is a company that produces cleaning supplies and chemicals. The business would have the right to register “ABC Limited” as a trademark under class 1 and 3.
To register a trademark under more than one class of goods and services using the Form TM-A, just one multiclass trademark application is required in this case; multiple applications are not necessary. For example, the trademark “TATA” is registered under several classes. In situations such as these, submitting a different application for each class could take a great deal of time and be tedious to do again. Therefore, in this case, using a multiclass trademark registration might be a smart move.
Purpose
Submitting an application for more than one class offers advantages and disadvantages. The applicant is able to safeguard a product in numerous classes with a single application, saving them the trouble of filing additional applications. This is the clear advantage. One multi-class program is also more efficient to file. By providing the information only once rather than repeatedly, the applicant can save time and prevent the bother.
Multiple class trademark applications’ advantages
Applications for Multiclass Trademarks May Have Certain Drawbacks
The applicant has two choices when it comes to registering a recently established trademark or service mark under multiple classes of goods or services: either submit multiple regular trademark applications independently, or submit an single multiclass trademark registration application that seeks registrations under the designated two or more classes. It is obvious that the amount of government fees payable under each of the two options will be the same. The primary and most notable advantages of a multiple-class registration of trademark are reduced administrative work and time and effort expenditures.
The multiclass trademark application has some disadvantages
A major disadvantage of submitting a multiclass application for trademark is that, should an opposition be made to the proposed trademark’s registration under any of the designated multiple classes, the Trademark Mark Registry may block or reject the application as a whole. Once more, even though an applicant can use a divisional application to guarantee enrollment in the remaining (without opposition) classes, doing so will incur additional costs and delays. Therefore, it is advised to file a multiclass application for trademark only if the applicant is certain that no one would object to the application, not even for registrations under any of the designated numerous classes. In addition, before submitting an application via Form-51, the applicant must guarantee that, in order to avoid the possibility of trademark rectification or cancellation in the future, he or she will utilize the proposed trademark/service mark within all the classes of services or products chosen soon after the registration of the trademark (typically within five years; per Chapter VII for the Trade Marks Act of 1999).