Registered trademarks have a 10-year validity and can be renewed indefinitely. The Registrar has set a wide window for you to do so, beginning from 6 months before the date of expiry. Even if you forgot, as even large organisations tend to do, you will be sent a notice to your registered address before the date of expiry. If you still do not file for renewal, the registrar may advertise its intention to remove the trademark in the Trade Marks Journal. This is, however, likely to happen only 12 months after the expiry date. Between 6 and 12 months after expiry, trademark registration can be renewed on payment of a fine through a process called ‘restoration’.

Benefits of Trademark Renewal

if you believe your registered trademark has been infringed, you can easily establish your rights in court

A trademark is an intangible asset that can be enormously valuable, should your brand succeed. Think of Tide, Nike or McDonald's. Businesses can earn huge money in royalties through licensing agreements or even transfer of ownership to interested parties.

You would want your customers to identify your products or services with your brand. Registering your trademark is the first step toward ensuring this. The law would then prevent any similar words or slogans from being registered.

Checklist For Trademark Renewal

• Pre-existence of a registered trademark, possessed by the proprietor, subject to renewal.
• The intent for commercial use should be analyzed for eligibility.
• Make sure that there is no similar trademark, by executing a trademark search of the eminent and licensed trademark database.
• If there is a conflict of trademark it is prudent to get a legal opinion for a feasible solution.
• Procure and prepare an application for renewal and thereby comply with appropriate conditions.

How to Renew a Trademark:

• Alteration and change of sign or logo of the registered trademark.
• Application made without any change of trademark.
The procedure is as follows-
• An application for renewal is made in the form of TM-R.
• The application can be filed by either the registered owner of the trademark or an agent authorized by him.
• Filing a renewal application for trademark, renews it for another 10 years.
• After filing the Trademark Renewal application, it is very important to check the status of your application periodically until it is processed by the registrar.
• The Trademark Journal is an official gazette of the Trademark registry which governs the application status whether it is accepted or not. If accepted then it is advertised in the Trademark Journal. Therefore, the renewal process should begin 3 to 6 months before the expiry of the trademark.
• Form-18 is used to file the application, with the requisite fees. The application is reviewed for quality before it is finally approved for renewal.