Trademark Hearing in India

Once the Trademark application is filed with the Registrar of Trademarks, it passes through various stages. In the initial stage, the Trademark Examiner examines the trademark application and if he finds that the application is incorrect or similar to an existing trademark or lacks distinctiveness and is not valid as per various grounds listed in the Trade Marks Act, then he may raise objection against registration of such trademark. If the Examiner raises any objection, the applicant has to submit a trademark objection reply and prove how his mark qualifies for a valid registration. If the Trademark examiner is satisfied with the reply of the applicant, he may accept the trademark, publish it in Trademark Journal and proceed towards registration. However, if he is not satisfied with the reply to the Examination Report, he shall call the applicant for Trademark Hearing by issuing a show-cause notice.

Trademark hearing or TLA hearing or Show Cause Hearing is conducted when the trademark application is objected and response to such examination report is submitted to the Trademark Examiner and he is still unsatisfied with the submissions. The applicant can attend the trademark hearing either in person or through Trademark Agent/Attorney. However,  If there is no objection raised, it is passed and then further published in Journal.

• To prevent Trademark from being rejected or abandoned

If the applicant has responded to the examination report by filing a trademark objection reply and trademark examiner is not satisfied by the reply, then the applicant has to mandatorily attend the hearing for providing further justification, otherwise the trademark application may be rejected or abandoned by the Examiner.

• It gives an opportunity for submission of additional evidence or documents

When a trademark hearing is held, the applicant gets another opportunity to justify as to why his mark should be registered and why the objection remarks should be waived off by the Examiner. Applicant may also provide or submit any additional evidence or documents (if required) at the time of hearing.

• Registrar has power to accept the trademark application with conditions, amendments, modifications or limitations

In case the trademark examiner has objected a trademark, examining officer at the hearing shall still have the power to accept the trademark along with certain conditions / limitations / amendments / modifications.

Trademark hearing takes place at the jurisdictional Trademark Registry Office. There are a total of 5 Trademark Registry in India that have territorial jurisdiction across different zones.

Yes, the applicant can make a request for adjournment i.e. postponement or rescheduling of the hearing with reasonable cause in Form TM-M with the prescribed fee, at least 3 days before the date of hearing. After which the Registrar if thinks fit to do so with certain terms and conditions may adjourn the hearing and intimate the parties accordingly.

However, an applicant cannot apply for adjournment more than 2 times and each adjournment shall not last for more than 30 days.