Trademark Registration in India: A Startup Guide

Key takeaways

• A registered trademark gives you the exclusive right to your brand name, logo or tagline in India, and it can be renewed forever, every 10 years.
• A recognised startup pays ₹4,500 in government fees to file in one class; any other applicant pays ₹9,000. The fee is charged per class and per mark.
• Registering your company name with the MCA does not protect your brand. Only a trademark does.
• From filing to registration usually takes 6 to 18 months if nobody objects or opposes, but you can start using ™ from the day you file.
• Search before you file: most rejections and oppositions come from marks that were already there.

Trademark registration in India is how a startup turns its brand into an asset it legally owns. Your name, your logo, the tagline customers remember you by — a registered trademark stops competitors from using anything confusingly similar for similar goods or services. This guide covers what you can register, how the search and class system works, the exact process step by step, what it costs, how long it takes, and the mistakes that quietly cost founders their brand.

Last updated: 9 November 2026. Reviewed by Santosh Sangle, Advocate (MAH/18261/2025), Legismith Partners LLP.

Why a startup should register its trademark early

A brand is usually the first thing a startup builds and the last thing it protects. The risk is simple: trademark rights in India are largely first-to-file. If a competitor files your name, or something close to it, before you do, you can end up fighting for a brand you built, or rebranding after you have already spent on a website, packaging, ads and a launch.

Registration also changes what you can do about copycats. An unregistered brand relies on passing off, which means proving reputation in court, a slow and expensive route. A registered trademark gives you a statutory right to stop infringers, a certificate investors recognise in due diligence, and an asset you can license, franchise or sell.

File when the name is decided and the business is real, not after the launch. You can file on a proposed-to-be-used basis, before you have sold a single unit.

What can be registered as a trademark?

A trademark can be a word, a logo, a combination of both, a tagline, a shape, a colour combination or even a sound, as long as it can distinguish your goods or services from others. For startups, the usual filings are the word mark (the name itself), the logo, and sometimes the two together.

What cannot be registered is just as important. The Trade Marks Act refuses marks that are descriptive of the goods, generic, deceptive, or identical or confusingly similar to an existing registered mark for similar goods or services. A name like “Fresh Juices” for a juice brand is descriptive and will be refused; a coined or arbitrary name — think of a made-up word, or a common word used in an unrelated field — is far stronger and far easier to register.

Two practical tests before you fall in love with a name: can a customer tell it apart from every other brand in your market, and would you be able to stop someone else using it? If the answer to either is no, the name is a weak trademark, however good it sounds.

Company name vs trademark: the mistake founders make

Registering a company or LLP with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs gives you a company name. It does not give you a trademark. These are two different registers, run by two different authorities, and one does not protect the other.

That means another business can hold a registered trademark in your company name, and you can hold a company name that someone else has trademarked. If that happens, you can be stopped from using your own name as a brand, even though the MCA approved it. The fix is to check and file the trademark separately, ideally before you print the name on anything expensive.

Who can file, and what does the startup rate cost?

Any person, startup, company or LLP can apply. The applicant should usually be the company itself, not an individual founder, so the brand sits on the company’s balance sheet where investors expect it. If a founder files personally first, the mark can be assigned to the company later, but that costs time and an extra fee.

Government fees depend on who is applying. Indicative official fees (e-filing, First Schedule to the Trade Marks Rules):

The filing fee is charged per class and per mark, so a word mark and a logo in two classes means four fees. Renewal after expiry attracts a surcharge of ₹4,500, or ₹9,000 for renewal with restoration. Professional fees for the search, drafting and prosecution are separate; at Legismith they are fixed and quoted upfront, so a startup knows the full cost of each stage before it starts.

Step 1: search before you file

A trademark search checks the Trade Marks Registry for identical and similar marks in the classes you want. It is the cheapest step in the whole process and the one that prevents the most expensive failures: an application filed on a name that is already taken will be objected to, opposed, or both, and the filing fee is not refunded.

Search for the exact name, for phonetic matches (names that sound the same but are spelt differently), and for similar marks in related classes, not just your own. A search also tells you whether to file the word mark, the logo, or both, and whether a small change to the name would clear the path.

Step 2: pick the right classes

Trademarks are registered class by class. India follows the Nice Classification of 45 classes: 1 to 34 for goods, 35 to 45 for services. A software startup typically files in Class 9 (software) and Class 42 (software services); a food brand in Class 30 or 43; a clothing brand in Class 25.

Pick the classes that match what you sell now and what you will sell next, but do not file in every class “just in case”: each class costs a separate fee, and a mark registered in a class you never use can be challenged for non-use after five years. File where your business actually is, and add classes as you expand.

Word mark, logo, or both?

A word mark protects the name itself, in any font, colour or style. A logo (device mark) protects that exact design. Most startups should file the word mark first: it is the broader protection, and it covers the name however it appears on a website, an app icon or packaging. File the logo as well if the design is distinctive and customers recognise it on its own, or if a competitor could copy the look while changing the words.

Filing both costs two fees per class, so founders on a tight budget usually start with the word mark and add the logo once the brand identity is settled. What you should not do is file only the logo and assume the name is protected: it is not.

What if someone is already using a similar name?

Finding a similar mark in the search does not always mean the name is dead. It depends on how close the marks are, whether the goods or services overlap, and whether the earlier mark is actually in use. A similar name in an unrelated class, or a registered mark that its owner has abandoned in practice, may leave room to file.

Where the conflict is real, founders have three options: change the name before launch, which is cheapest by far; file anyway and argue the marks are distinguishable, which works only when the differences are genuine; or negotiate consent or a coexistence agreement with the earlier owner. What never works is ignoring the earlier mark and hoping nobody notices: the examination report or an opposition will surface it, and by then you have spent on branding you may have to discard.

The trademark registration process in India, step by step

1. Clearance search — check the Registry for identical and similar marks in your classes.
2. Application (Form TM-A) — file online with the mark, the applicant’s details, the class or classes, and the goods or services. You can file on a “proposed to be used” basis, or claim use from an earlier date if you have already been using the mark.
3. Examination — the Registry examines the application and issues an examination report, usually within a few months. Common objections are descriptiveness and similarity to an existing mark.
4. Examination reply — you reply to the objections with arguments and evidence. A well-drafted reply clears most objections; a weak one leads to a hearing.
5. Publication in the Trade Marks Journal — once accepted, the mark is published and any third party has four months to oppose it.
6. Opposition (if any) — if someone opposes, both sides file evidence and the matter is decided, sometimes after a hearing. Unopposed marks move straight to registration.
7. Registration — the certificate issues, and you can use ®. The registration lasts 10 years from the filing date and can be renewed indefinitely.

Official forms, fee schedules and the application portal are on the website of the Trade Marks Registry, Office of the CGPDTM.

Timeline: how long each stage takes

Expedited processing: under Rule 34, you can pay for expedited examination, which moves the application up the queue. It costs ₹20,000 for individuals, startups and small enterprises and ₹40,000 for others, per class per mark. If a launch, a funding round or a dispute makes speed matter, it is worth asking about at filing.

What the ® and ™ symbols actually mean

You can use ™ from the day you file, whether or not the mark is registered yet. It signals a claim, not a registration. ® may be used only after the mark is actually registered; using it before registration is an offence under the Trade Marks Act. Once registered, use ® consistently: it warns competitors and strengthens your position if you ever need to enforce.

After registration: keeping your trademark alive

Registration is not the end of the file. Three things continue:

• Renewal — ₹9,000 per class every 10 years, indefinitely. Diarise the date: renewal with surcharge is possible for a short window after expiry, and restoration after that, but both cost extra.
• Use it — a registered trademark that is not used for five years can be removed from the Register for non-use. Register the marks you will actually use, and use the ones you register.
• Watch and enforce — the Registry does not police your mark for you. Watch the Journal for conflicting applications, oppose them where they matter, and act promptly against infringers. A trademark you never enforce gets weaker over time.

Common mistakes startups make

• Treating the company name as a trademark. The MCA registration protects nothing about the brand.
• Filing without a search. The fee is gone whether the application survives or not.
• Filing in the wrong class. Protection follows the class, not the business. A Class 42 filing does not protect goods sold under the same name in Class 25.
• Filing the logo but not the word mark. A logo filing protects that exact design; a word mark protects the name itself, in any style.
• Ignoring the examination report. The reply deadline is 30 days, and a missed reply can end the application.
• Forgetting renewal. A lapsed registration leaves the brand open, and restoration is not guaranteed.
• Using ® before registration. It is not a styling choice; it is a legal claim.

Frequently asked questions

Building a brand worth protecting? Legismith files and defends trademarks for startups on fixed fees, with a quote within 24 hours. Book a free consultation to check whether your brand name is clear before you launch it. If the product itself is new, read our guide to patent filing in India for startups.