Conducting a Trademark Search Online in India

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Conducting a Trademark Search Online in India

Conducting a proper Trademark search is a crucial preliminary step before getting your trademark registered. Registration of Trademark is a legal protection for one’s brand name such as a a unique text or logo, marking etc. used for marketing and advertising. A trademark is registered under the provisions of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.With the help of trademark registration, you can prevent others from using the same or similar trademark for selling or offering for sale of their products or services. Nobody can create confusion in minds of buyers regarding the origin of the product or services. Today, even the small business entities are taking necessary steps to register their trademarks to ensure the legal right to sue their unique brand names and trademarks.

The process of getting a trademark registered is quite a long one. One has to come up with a unique name, mark, sign or service name that is distinctive in nature and does not bear similarity or resemblance to any existing trademarks. If they do bear similarities, the application can be rejected, or disputes can be raised as the application proceeds with time.

To avoid such instances, applicants should conduct an extensive search called the trademark public search to ensure that the proposed trademark is unique and similar trademarks registered by other parties does not exist in the market. This will reduce the possibility of disputes from other parties or rejection by the appropriate authorities due to similarity. Further, in case a similar trademark exists in the Registry of Trademarks, then name can be altered or changed. Therefore, in such a case a fresh Trademarks application is required to be filed, which would double your expense and delay the process. Hence, it is always advisable to conduct a registered trademark search online before filing a trademark application.

Interested to learn more about trademark search or TM Search?

Read on as we explain some of the most critical aspects of trademark search in India and how to do it successfully.

What is a Trademark Search or TM Search?

A trademark search online is a search done to rule out the possibility of a similar-looking or phonetically similar trademark that could lead to rejection of your application. However, there are a few points to take note of before conducting a trademark search in India.

Banned Characters

- There is a list of names and words that are banned from being trademarked.

Registration of trademarks which may hurt religious susceptibilities of any class of citizens of India, contains scandalous or obscene matter or if its use is prohibited.
Moreover, the registration of a chemical element or chemical compound in respect of a chemical substance or preparation or any word which is declared by the World Health Organization as an international non-proprietary name is prohibited.
Further, registration of a trademark containing the name of a living person which falsely establishes a relationship with such person or the name of a dead person, whose death took place 20 years prior to the date of the application of the trademark is also prohibited.

Know Your Trademark Application Status Online in India

The Manual of Trade Marks, Practice and Procedures provides for a list of words that cannot be registered as trademarks as per the directions issued by the Central Government. The same can be accessed here: Click Here

Nice Classification

– The Nice Classification (NCL) is an international classification of goods and services applied for trademark registrations. It consists of 45 different classes under which a trademark can be applied. Each class is for a different set of goods and services. The same can be access here in: Click Here

As mentioned earlier, once a trademark application is filed for a particular name or logo, it cannot be changed or altered.

However, after conducting a TM Search, if one comes across a similar trademark , then the proposed trademark can be altered, or a new brand name can also be selected to avoid any obstacles in registration process (since the application is not filed yet).

If Trademark Search Online in India indicates that the brand name is unique, then one can go ahead to register the brand name.

What is a trademark database?

A trademark database is the collection of all the trademarks filed by other parties. The Indian trademark database can be electronically accessed via the website of the Controller General of Patent Designs and Trademarks. It is the Controller General who monitors trademark registration processes and oversees registered trademarks.

This database contains all the trademark applications that have been filed, rejected and issued by the Registrar of trademarks. This database also includes all licensed, objected, notified and expired trademarks.

How to conduct a registered trademark search in India?

Here are the quick steps that you can take to conduct a trademark search.

Step 1:- Visit the trademark search India’s database at IPI India Online

Step 2:- Select the wordmark and choose the option “Start with”, “Contains” or “matches”. Each of these types gives a different result. Choose “Start with” to display all names that start with the word you have entered. Choose “Contains” to display results that have all the words that you have entered. “Match” will display all the entries that have the exact match as your entered words.

Step 3:- Once you have chosen the word mark criteria in the above step, choose one or more classes according to the Nice classification.

Step 4:- Click on search to display the results and begin the trademark search. However, analysis of the Trademark search results generated during this TM online search requires training and understanding of Trademarks law.

Vienna Code

– If the proposed trademark has a logo or a pictorial element in it, it can be searched under the Vienna code classification. It is an international classification that classifies every pictorial element into broad 29 categories. This makes searching for logos and images easier.

Conduct a Complete Trademark Search Online with IPExcel

The trademark registration and trademark search process are very complex for a person not well versed in subject matter. It can lead to petty mistakes that can cost you a lot of time and money. Even selection of a wrong class can result in rejection of the application. If you’d want to save yourself from all the hassles that could come, consider hiring us as your expert advisor for a trademark registration. Comprehensive Online Trademark searches are done by expert attorneys who are specialized in the field. They can select the right classes, identify possible variations of the selected trademark, analyze the TM online search and provide a clear opinion regarding possibility of registration of the proposed Trademark. . They can also advise on any other legal risks that might crop up if you register the proposed trademark.

With extensive experience of hundreds of successful trademark registrations in India and abroad, IPExcel employs some of the best tools and techniques for trademark search in India. Our quality of service, detail-oriented approach, and customer-friendly policies make us the trademark registration company of choice for hundreds of business owners, inventors, and artists. For any trademark related assistance, book an appointment with our experts today!