A brand without a registered trademark is marketing spend on rented land. Registration is straightforward when done right — search, file, prosecute, certificate — and miserable when done carelessly. We handle the full journey, including the objections and oppositions where applications usually die.
Trademark registration under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 gives the owner exclusive rights to use the mark for the registered goods/services, and the legal standing to stop others. The process: availability search, application filing, examination (with objections more often than not), response to objections, advertisement in the Trade Marks Journal, opposition window, and finally the registration certificate.
Where applications fail is rarely the filing — it's the prosecution. Examination objections (descriptiveness, deceptive similarity, lack of distinctiveness) need substantive legal responses, and third-party oppositions need fought. Filing is administration; prosecution is advocacy.
Every business with a brand name, logo, or tagline it intends to keep — which is every business. Startups should file before launch publicity, not after; the application date is the priority date, and disputes are won on dates.
D2C and consumer brands where the mark carries the premium. Service businesses expanding geographically — rights are territorial, and the new city's squatter doesn't care about your home-market reputation.
Anyone currently using ™ and assuming it protects them. It doesn't — not against a registered proprietor.
Comprehensive search across the registry, common law, and web — assessing registrability and conflict risk before you spend on filing. A frank opinion: file, modify, or abandon. This step has saved clients from investing in unregistrable marks.
Specification drafted to cover your actual and planned goods/services, in the right classes — neither so narrow it leaves gaps nor so broad it invites objections. Filed correctly the first time.
Objections answered with legal submissions and evidence — distinctiveness arguments, prior-use evidence, disclaimers where strategic. Most applications face objections; most objections are answerable with proper advocacy.
Third-party oppositions fought: counter-statements, evidence, hearings. And offensive oppositions filed against conflicting marks that threaten your position. This is litigation-adjacent work; we treat it as such.
Certificate secured, then renewals (every 10 years), assignments recorded, licensing structured, and portfolio watch. The registration is the beginning of ownership, not the end.
Fixed fee per mark per class for the full journey through registration — search, filing, examination response included. Oppositions quoted separately (they're litigation, not administration). Renewals on a 10-year cycle.
Timeline: 12–18 months unopposed; oppositions add 1–2 years. File early — the priority date is what matters in disputes.
The application that was doomed from day one — a conflicting prior mark the search would have found. Filing fees are cheap; building a brand on an unregistrable mark is ruinous.
Names that describe the product ("Fresh Juices" for juice). Descriptive marks face steep objections and weak protection even if registered. Distinctiveness is a business decision with legal consequences — choose accordingly.
Filing in class 25 for apparel while the business expands into retail services (class 35) unprotected. Specification strategy should follow the business plan, not just the current product.
Clearance search and registrability opinion. File only what can win.
Application drafted and filed with strategic specifications.
Examination objections answered; journal advertisement managed.
Oppositions handled; certificate secured. Then renewals and watch.
12–18 months if unopposed. Examination objections are normal; oppositions extend the timeline.
Names, logos, taglines, shapes, sounds, colours — anything distinctive identifying your goods/services. Descriptiveness is the main barrier.
™ is a claim; ® means registered. Using ® unregistered is an offence.
Those covering current and planned offerings. We strategise this — under-filing leaves gaps, over-filing wastes money and invites objections.
We fight it — counter-statement, evidence, hearing. Many oppositions settle; the winnable ones we win.
Ten-year terms, renewable indefinitely. Use it or risk it — non-use can be grounds for cancellation.
Only with acquired distinctiveness — a hard, expensive road. Coined or arbitrary marks register cleanly; descriptive ones fight for years.
The word mark — it protects the name in any presentation, and logos can follow. If budget forces a choice, the word mark wins.
Normal — we reply with legal arguments and evidence, and most objections are overcome. Abandoning at the objection stage wastes the filing.
Yes — for non-use or wrongful registration. That's why using the mark and keeping evidence of use matters from day one.
Talk to a partner about your situation — no pitch, no obligation. If we're not the right firm for it, we'll tell you that too.
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