Trademark Opposition in India – Trademark Registration in Trichy

Trademark Opposition proceedings in India

In the process of registering your trademark, there are two instances where denial of registration of your mark can be provided. Trademark Opposition in India – Trademark Registration in Trichy is what we are going to be discussed in this article.

The first component is known as the objection and the second example is known as the opposition.

Trademark registration is objected to by the examiner. Generally, the examiner raises objections under Section 9 (1) or Section 11 of the Trademark Act.

What is trademark protest?

After the analyser audits your trademark and discovers that it is qualified for registration, your trademark will be distributed in the Trademark Journal. The purpose behind publishing a trademark in a journal is to enable any third party to view the trademark and to register a trademark protest against it. Basically, an anti-trademark record is documented by an outsider against your trademark registration.

When an adversary protests, your trademark status will be reflected as ‘adversary’.

What is the time limit for filing a protest?

The third party has to file a protest within 3 months (extending by 1 month) from the date of publication of the trademark.

Who can file an anti-trademark?

Legally, Section 21 of the Trademark Act, 1999 states that ‘any person’ may file a notice of protest. This includes individuals, companies, partnership payments and trusts. In fact, if at least two individuals have similar issues against the trademark, they can join as rivals

In general, the following individuals file an anti-trademark filing:

Owner of a previous trademark application or trademark registration covering the same trademark for the same goods.

An individual who has utilized the same or similar trademark before the customer, however who has not looked for registration of the trademark

What are the grounds for filing anti-trademark in India?

The various grounds on which a person can initiate anti-prosecution action are:

The trademark is the same or similar to the previous or existing registered trademark.

The icon is free of special character.

The sign is descriptive in nature.

Trademark applications are made in bad faith.

The mark is in the current language or in established business systems.

Trademarks can be publicly deceptive or confusing.

The sign is against the law or is prevented by law.

Trademarks are disallowed under the Marks and Names Act, 1950

These targets incorporate things that hurt the strict sensations of any class or individuals.

Where to file a notice of opposition in India?

The notice of protest should be filed in the trademark registry where the application for the conflicting mark has been made. For example, if an application is filed in the Mumbai office fee of the Trademark Registry, the counter-proceedings should be initiated only in Mumbai.

What is the process involved in trademark protests in India?

The anti-trademark process involves the following stages:

Stage 1: Filing notice of opposition / filing counter-statement

Within four months after the publication of the Mark Trademarks Journal (Advertisement), anyone can oppose the trademark registration by filing a notice of protest through Form TM-O with a fixed fee. Essentially, the notice of opposition includes the application against which the protest is sought and the basis for protesting the sign. It is first sent to the registry for review and if all the requirements are met, then the registry notifies the other party (the applicant of the trademark).

Upon receipt of such notice of objection, the applicant must file a counter-statement on the form TM-O with a prescription fee within a legal time limit of two months. There is no expansion to document a counter-statement, which means that if the other party fails to record a counter-statement inside 2 months of accepting the notification, it will be deemed to have abandoned its application. The counter-statement has a paragraph-wise counter of each ground, especially in the notice of protest. Again, it is first shipped off the library for survey and assuming all the necessities are conformed to, the vault serves a counter-statement on the counter.

Stage 2: Filing evidence

Rule 45 – Evidence in support of the opposition:

Within two months of receiving the counter-statement, the respondent may provide evidence in support of his opposition in the form of an affidavit to strengthen the case. The respondent may choose to waive the filing of such affidavit under Rule 45 if he wishes to rely solely on the facts stated in the notice of the Opposition. In any case, it is necessary to inform the trademark registry officials and the other party within the prescribed time, otherwise the protest will be abandoned.

Rule 46 – Evidence in support of application:

Within two months of the Rule 45 evidence / waiver being reported by the respondent, the applicant should add evidence in support of his application. The applicant also has the option of granting a waiver for submitting any evidence and can rely on the counter-statement alone.

Rule 47 – Evidence in reply:

Within one month of the applicant reporting the Rule 46 evidence / waiver, the respondent has the option to add further evidence in support of his / her objection again, if any. This provision has been made to obtain certain certainty in the proceedings of the Opposition, to reject the evidence presented by the petitioner and to leave his case pending.

Stage 3: Hearing

After the completion of the evidence submission stage, a hearing is appointed by the registry and the parties are notified. At least 3 days before the hearing date, a request for adjournment may be made under Form TM-M. Further, the maximum adjournment number that can be requested by the party is restricted to 2 and the duration of each such adjournment is not more than 30 days.

The Registrar will hear both parties and, after reviewing the evidence submitted, will decide whether the trademark will be registered or not, leading the Opposition to a conclusion. However, a party offended by the registrar’s decision may challenge it by filing an appeal before the Intellectual Property Appeals Board.

Road blocks for the opposition to move forward?

Registering a trademark in India takes considerable time, and God forbid, if a third party opposes your brand, inevitably, it takes a lot longer. While there is a process designed for countermeasures, delays still occur for some reason not running for set reasons. Currently there is a lot of delay as the Indian registry is in the process of digitizing everything under the sun! So, we just need to be patient because the outcome of the wait will be fruitful or at least, let’s be optimistic!