The Trademark Act, 1999 regulates all activities related to trademarks in India such as registration, validity, and renewal of trademarks. A trademark identifies a product or a service by a particular brand and may also advertise quality standards.
Validity of Trademarks
According to Section 25 of the Trademark Act, 1999, a registered trademark is valid for a period of 10 years. After this period, the proprietor may apply for a renewal of trademark from time to time. If the trademark expires and is not renewed, the Registrar will serve a notice to the proprietor regarding the same.
Renewal of Trademarks
For the renewal of trademarks, the proprietor of the trademark has to file Form TM-12, which is an application for renewal, before the Registrar. This application should be filed on or before 6 months expiration date of the trademark registration.
If no application for renewal is filed within 1 – 3 months before the expiration of the registration, the Registrar shall send a notice to the proprietor informing him of the upcoming renewal date. No trademark can be removed from the register if the notice of renewal has not been served by the Registrar.
The proprietor has to pay renewal fees which is Rs 4000, along with submission of Form TM-12. Failure to pay such fees will cause the removal of the trademark from the register.
The renewal of a trademark requires the following documents: A copy of the Registration Certificate, Power of Attorney, an ID & Address Proof of the Applicant, and a copy of TM-1.
Restoration of Trademarks
If in case the renewal period has lapsed and no application was filed prior to the expiration, then the proprietor can apply for restoration of the trademark. However, such an application has to be made within 6 months after the date of the expiry of the trademark registration. Form TM-13 has to be filed with the Registrar to request a trademark restoration.
Once the Registrar receives an application to either renew or restore the trademark, they shall advertise the mark once again and invite objections from people that have reason to claim that the trademark in question should not be renewed or restored. If no objections are raised during this period, then the mark will be added to the register once again.
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