Trademark Renewal

A registered trademark in India is valid for 10 years from the date of application, and can be renewed indefinitely in 10-year blocks. Renewal keeps your exclusive rights alive; letting it lapse can put your brand back up for grabs.

The ten years runs from the application date, not the registration date. Under section 23(1) a mark that is accepted and registered is registered as of the date of the application, and section 25(1) measures the ten-year term from there. Because examination, advertisement and any opposition can absorb a substantial part of the first term, the practical effect is that a certificate issued in year three leaves seven years to run, not ten. Reading the term off the certificate date is the single most common way a renewal is missed.

Renewal is filed in form TM-R, ideally before expiry. There's a grace period (with surcharge) after expiry, and a further window to restore a removed mark — but the safest, cheapest route is to renew on time.

Three windows, three prices, in order. Renew before expiry and it is ₹9,000 per class on e-filing. Renew inside the six months after expiry, under the proviso to section 25(3), and the First Schedule adds a surcharge of ₹4,500 per class on top of the renewal fee — ₹13,500 per class. Once six months have passed, renewal on its own is no longer the route: section 25(4) allows restoration and renewal between six months and one year from expiry, and the Schedule charges ₹9,000 per class on top of the renewal fee for that — ₹18,000 per class. Past one year, neither route is open. Every one of those figures is per class, so a three-class registration multiplies each of them by three.

There is no small-applicant discount on renewal, and this catches people out. The First Schedule splits its fee into two columns — individual, startup or small enterprise, and everyone else — for only two entries: the TM-A application, and expedited processing under rule 34. The TM-R renewal entry has a single price. A sole proprietor who filed at the concessional ₹4,500 will renew at ₹9,000, the same as a listed company. Budgeting the renewal at the filing rate leaves you short by half.

A removed mark still casts a shadow — which is good news if it is yours and bad news if it is someone else's. Section 26 provides that a mark removed for failure to pay the renewal fee is nevertheless deemed to be a trade mark already on the register, for the purpose of an application for the registration of another trade mark, during one year next after the date of removal — unless the Registrar is satisfied either that there was no bona fide trade use of the removed mark in the two years immediately preceding removal, or that no deception or confusion would be likely. So even a lapsed registration keeps blocking third-party filings for a year. It is a cushion, not a substitute for renewing.

Worked example. A registration applied for on 12 June 2016 expires on 12 June 2026, whatever the certificate says. Renewed on 1 June 2026 across two classes it costs ₹18,000 in government fee. Renewed on 1 October 2026 — inside the six-month window — it costs ₹27,000, because the ₹4,500 surcharge attaches per class. Restored on 1 March 2027, inside the section 25(4) window, it costs ₹36,000. Left until 13 June 2027, the routes are closed and the only option is a fresh application, which restarts priority from the new filing date and exposes the mark to every citation and objection filed in the meantime. The difference between the cheapest and the most expensive of those outcomes is a calendar entry.

We track your renewal date, file on time, and handle restoration where a mark has lapsed. Marks acquired through an assignment or transfer need the proprietor details brought up to date first, or the renewal record will not match the register.