When the application to register a trademark has been filed it has to go through several steps. In order to understand the trademark registration status you must know about all the stages from where a trademark application needs to go before one gets the registration. There is a proper procedure to get registration on the trademark and without following the same one cannot obtain trademark registration in India. There is no shortcut to do this registration. Even after filing the application it will take months or sometimes years to get this registration done. Hence you must know how to check the trademark registration status online and the stages of the registration, which we are going to discuss in the present blog.
What Do You Mean by Trademarks?
As defined by the Trademark Act of 1999, a trademark in India is any form of logo, mark, or sign that distinguishes the products and services of a particular company. One of the most vital or maybe more accurately, significant aspects of the business sector is this trademark. It helps in the recognition of the goods and services of a particular brand in the market among the competitors. Trademarks give recognition to many brands like apple symbols. If you are in the business industry you must understand the importance of trademark for any business and how important trademark registration is.
Understanding the Trademark Registration and Process
Trademark attorneys strongly advise registering your trademark to prevent unauthorized usage, even if it’s not required by law. Registering provides legal protection, and unauthorized usage can lead to both criminal and civil consequences. To register, submit an application with the required documents to the trademark registrar. Competent authorities will verify the application and publish it in the trademark journal. If no objections arise during this period, the trademark gets registered, safeguarding your brand from potential misuse.
What do you Mean by Trademark Registration Status?
In the above point the process of registration of a trademark has been described in short, if you have read it carefully you came to know that there are different stages of the trademark registration process and these stages may also be considered as the trademark registration status. It means where the registration reached currently. The process of registration of a trademark is a time consuming process, hence time to time verification of the trademark registration status is required in order to know about ion which stage your application for the registration has reached.
Different Types of Trademark Registration Status
Some of the key trademark registration status are named as the following:
Send to Vienna Codification
If your trademark is in the form of non text, which means it is a logo or any other art form then when the application for its registration will be filed, a code will be assigned to it. This code is known as the vienna code. Such kinds of trademarks have to go through a process called vienna codification process and it got started after you filed an application before the registry of trademark for such marks. In this stage when this process is going on the trademark registration status is shown as “ send to vienna codification”.
Formalities Check Pass/Fail
Once the application of the trademark registration has been filed before the registry of the trademark. It will be examined by the examiner. In case everything finds good to go the status of the trademark registration shows as “Formalities Check Pass”. But if it is found that there are certain things which are not there then the status will be shown on the website as “ Formalities Check Fail”.
Marked for Exam
After completing the application formalities for trademark registration, your trademark undergoes examination by an official. During this stage, the status of the application is reflected as “Marked for Exam” on the trademark registry website. The examiner reviews the application and submits an examination report. Based on this report, the trademark will proceed to publication in the trademark journal.
Either Object or Exam Report Issued
Following the examination of the trademark, if the examiner has concerns or queries, the status of the trademark registration will be displayed as “Objected” on the website. Conversely, if the examiner provides a report without objections, the status will be indicated as “Exam Report Issued.” This step signifies whether any issues or objections were identified during the examination process, guiding the applicant on the next steps in the trademark registration procedure.
Refused
In case the examiner raises queries and the status on the website is shown as “objected” then the applicant needs to submit the clarification against the same. Once the clarification has been provided, it will be evaluated once again. If the reviewer is not satisfied, the request is designated as “Refused” on the official website.
Opposed
The trademark shall be available to everyone after it has been approved in the trademark journal. People now have the option to object to the same if they believe that this trademark violates their trademark rights in any manner. They have 4 months after the publication to raise the objection. If any objection will be raised then the trademark registration status will be shown on the website as “Opposed”.
Withdrawal or Removed
If the person applying for trademark registration decides to remove their trademark for any reason, the status on the website will be displayed as “Withdrawal.” Conversely, if the authorities remove the trademark from the registry, the status will be indicated as “Removed.” These statuses reflect whether the withdrawal is voluntary by the applicant or enforced by the authorities, providing clarity on the current standing of the trademark registration process.
Registered
After completing all the sagates of the registration when the status of the application will be shown on the website as “Registered” it means that the application which you have submitted for trademark registration, has been successful and your trademark has been registered. At this stage the applicant will get the certificate of registration and now nobody else can use his trademark without his will.
Conclusion
Trademark registration is a very long and time consuming process. It’s not like GST registration for MSME registration where you can file the application and get the registration certificate within a few days or hours. Trademark registration process sometimes takes months or even years, hence it’s really important to check the trademark registration status from time to time and understand on which stage your application is. In the present article we have discussed almost all the terms which you may see while checking the status of your trademark application on the trademark registry. I hope this will help you.
