Applicant’s name

Business type

Business objectives

Brand/logo/slogan name

Registration address

The documents required are:

Signed Form-48

Identification proof of the signatory

Address proof of the signatory

Business proof (depends on the type of business)

Udyog Aadhar/MSME registration certificate (optional)

•  Trademark can be defined as the unique identity that makes your company, product, or service stand out from the rest. A registered trademark is your business’s intellectual property/ intangible asset. It protects the investment made into creating trust and loyalty among your customers.

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• Registration of trademark provides the right to sue against others who try to copy your trademark and prevents others from using a similar trademark to the one registered by you.

Many aspects of your brand image can be registered as a trademark. The aspect you need to consider is which aspect of your brand stands out to your customers. Pick that aspect(s) for applying for trademark in india.

1. Name

a. Product Name: You can register a particular product’s name as a trademark. Apple’s iPod is a product name trademark.

b. Business Name: Registering a company name as a trademark is the most common route businesses take. Ex: Bajaj.

c. Person’s Name/Surname: If your name plays an important part in generating revenue, then you can even trademark your name! Ex: Shah Rukh Khan has trademarked his name.

d. Abbreviations: Abbreviations of a company or brand name can also be a trademark. Ex: BMW.

2. Logo/Symbol

It is highly recommended to trademark a logo because it visually represents your brand. Your customers can recollect a logo faster than a name. A great example of a logo trademark is the ‘swoosh’ of Nike.

3. Tagline

If you have a tagline for your brand, you can go ahead and trademark that as well. A tagline tells your customers what you stand for as a business. For example, KFC’s ‘It's finger lickin' good’.

4. Other Options

a. Colour Mark: You can trademark a colour or a combination of colours. (Ex: Cadbury has trademarked the colour royal blue)

b. Sound Mark: Musical notes or sounds can be trademarked if we can prove that it's distinctive. Nokia has trademarked its tune.

c. Scent Mark: Even scents can be trademarked.

There are 45 trademark classes and all the goods and services are categorised across these classes. You need to be very careful while picking the classes as it will determine the validity of your trademark for your business’ products/services. If your business operates across different goods/services that fall under different classes, you have to ensure that you can apply trademark online under all the applicable classes.

Some of the popular trademark classes in India are:

Class 9: which includes computer software and electronics,

Class 25: which includes clothing,

Class 35: which includes business management and advertising, and

Class 41: which includes education and entertainment.

If you are operating within these trademark classes, the competition for a trademark might be higher. However, that shouldn’t matter as long as your mark is unique.