A trademark while undergoing the registration process, goes through a lot many stages that provide it a status. The case trademark status shall be “Accepted” when the application qualifies for Registration and is accepted by the registrar for publication under the Trademark Journal whereas the status will be ”Objected” if the trademark doesn’t qualify as per the requirements of the Trademarks Act.
The trademark status shall be displayed as “Registered” when the trademark application undergoes various stages and qualifies under the requirements of the Trademark Act.
Knowing the status of the trademark is important so that the user can catch up with the process of registration. It solves many problems and helps in looking for alternatives. The same not only saves a lot of resources for the company but also saves them from any trouble of infringement and henceforth the court proceedings.
Need for Trademark Status
The government of India has formalized the procedure for applying for the trademark. A trademark application, in general, requires at least 6-12 months to get approved for registration. The registered trademarks are recorded in the Trademark Registry in India. With India getting digitized, the government of India is trying to make the process online. The users and the applicants of trademarks can check the status of the application reflected online.
The Trademark Registry of India updates the status of a trademark application as it proceeds further.
Trademark Status types
The status of the trademark changes as the application proceeds through the different stages. There are different types of trademark status. The following are the explanations of the trademark status :
New Application
The new application status is given to those trademark applications which has just been introduced to the database of the trademark registry for the first time. This is the first and foremost step in the trademark application process.
Send to Vienna Codification
This status is given to those applications which are non-text trademarks. Any application containing a logo or a label or an artwork is assigned a numerical code in accordance with the Vienna Codification. However, the application still has to go a long way in the process of getting registered.
Formalities Check Pass
Once the trademark application reaches this stage, it means that it has compiled all the procedural formalities. If the formalities are complete relating to the documentation as mentioned in the guidelines of the Registry, the status of “Formalities Chk Pass” is given to the application.
Formalities Check Fail
If any of the above procedural formalities are incomplete in any scenario or if they have not been satisfactorily compiled, then the trademark application status will come to be known as “Formalities Check Fail” instead of “Formalities Check Pass”. The Trademark Registry will ask the applicant to comply with the fails and/or attach respective documents. The applicant then has to ensure the same withing the given deadlines.
Marked for Exam
This stage refers to the one where the application reaches the examiner for the beginning of the examination stage. The examiner determines whether the application qualifies for registration or not as per the Trademark Act. As soon as the application reaches the Examiner, the status of the application becomes “Marked for Exam”.
Objected
The examiner of application might raise an objection regarding the trademark application. Under the aforementioned case, the status of “Objected” is given to the application. The applicant is informed about the same through an official notice through Postal and Electronic mode and is expected to respond through Reply to Trademark Examination report within one month of issue of the notice.
Abandoned
If the applicant fails to submit to the objection notice within the given time frame, the trademark application stands abandoned and is given the status of “Abandoned”.
Accepted
The status of “Accepted” is given to those applications against which the examiner has not raised any objection. These applications qualifies for registration and will be published in the “Trademark Journal” before the registration of trademark.
Advertised Before Accepted
This status is given when the application is advertised in the Trademark Journal by the Registrar before the acceptance of the same. This status is shown in the Trademark Registry website. This stage allows a third party to stand up for an opposition if it feels the possibility of infringement before the acceptance of the trademark. If no opposition is received by the users, the Trademark is then accepted by registrar.
Accepted and Advertised
This stage is good news for the applicant since here, the mark is advertised in the trademark journal. At this stage, the applicant has to make no required changes. The trademark is given the status of “Accepted and Advertised” and it will open for the public to raise opposition if any for the respective trademark.
Ready for Show Cause Hearing
At this stage, the examiner of the trademark application feels that he is not satisfied with the arguments presented in the reply to the Trademark Objection or Reply to Examination Report. He offers an opportunity to the applicant to come for the court hearing and explain the significance of the mark to the Examiner.
The applicant has to respond to this hearing within the given deadline and missing the same will lead to abandoning of the application. It is important that the applicant regularly checks the status of his application.
Refused
If the Trademark Registry is not satisfied even after listening to the arguments of the applicant, the status of such an application on the Trademark Registry website will be changed to Refused”
Opposed
The advertised trademark can suffer opposition within 4 months of its publication in the Trademark Journal. If the application suffers opposition by a third party and the latter becomes successful, the application stands “Refused”. For the same, the applicant can file an appeal under Section 91 of the Trademarks Act within 3 months of the final decision.
Registered
If the application reaches this stage, then it means that the Registrar has successfully accepted the trademark. The trademark is given the status of “Registered”. The applicant can now download a certified copy of the registered trademark from the website.
Removed
This status is given to those trademarks which are removed from the register of the Registrar of Trademarks. The reason behind doing so is the non-renewal of the registered trademarks.
Withdrawn
If the applicant voluntarily withdraws the application of trademark from the register of the Trademarks registrar, then the status of the application will be “Withdrawn”.
Conclusion
The applicant of the trademark must ensure that he or she is updated with the status of the application from the website of the Trademark Registry in India. It is essential as the applicant might be supposed to respond to certain stages during the process of trademark registration.
At Registration Arena, we are continuously available to help you with trademark search and Trademark Registration. Trademark Search in India can be done through Registration Arena in all major cities including Hyderabad, Mumbai, and New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata & all other Indian cities. It takes 7-12 working days on average to complete registration, subject to the government processing time and the client document submission.
