The best time for a startup to protect its brand is before the brand goes public: once the name is chosen and cleared, and before the launch, the fundraise announcement or the first marketing spend. Indian law lets you apply for a mark you only propose to use, and a registration, once granted, counts from the date you applied. So the founders who file early hold their place in the queue against anyone who files later.
This guide covers the decisions that are specific to a startup: what to protect, how to choose a name that can be registered, how to check it, which classes to pick, whose name the mark should sit in, and how to use ™ while you wait. Ready to file? See our trademark registration page; we prepare and file the application for you.
Step 1: Decide what you are protecting
A startup usually has more than one asset worth protecting, and each is a separate filing:
- The word mark: the brand name in plain text. This is the most flexible protection, because it covers the name whatever the font or design.
- The logo: a separate mark with its own application. Worth filing once the design is final, not while it is still being iterated.
- Product or app names: if a product name could become better known than the company brand, it may need its own filing.
- A tagline: only if it is distinctive and will be used consistently. Most early-stage taglines change too often to justify a filing.
If the budget allows one filing at first, the word mark in your core class is usually the priority. Logos and product names can follow once the business shape settles.
Step 2: Choose a name that can actually be registered
The Trade Marks Act, 1999 refuses registration on two broad kinds of ground:
- Absolute grounds (section 9): the mark lacks distinctiveness, or simply describes the goods or services, their quality, purpose or origin, or has become customary in the trade. A name like “Fresh Organic Foods” for food products is hard to register for this reason.
- Relative grounds (section 11): the mark is identical or similar to an earlier mark for the same or similar goods or services, so that the public is likely to be confused.
Invented words, and real words unrelated to the product, register most easily. Descriptive names are tempting because they explain the product on day one, but they are the most likely to draw an objection and the hardest to enforce once competitors appear. If the naming shortlist still has three candidates, let registrability help decide between them.
Step 3: Search before you file
Run a search on IP India’s public trademark search for identical and similar marks in your classes. Look at:
- exact matches and spelling variants (Zest / Zeszt / Xest);
- phonetic matches, which matter in India because brands are often spoken in several languages;
- marks with the same dominant word plus a generic addition;
- for logos, similar device marks.
Search the company and domain names you want too: a clash there does not stop a trademark filing, but it tells you the name is crowded. The examiner will do a similar search later under Rule 33 of the Trade Marks Rules, 2017. Finding a conflict before you file, rather than after you have printed packaging or raised money on the name, is the whole point of searching.
Step 4: Pick your classes
Goods and services are grouped into 45 classes under the Nice Classification, which India applies under Rule 20. You pay per class, and protection centres on the classes and the description of goods or services you file. A SaaS startup typically looks at Class 42 (hosted software) and Class 9 (downloadable apps); a D2C brand looks at the class of its product, plus Class 35 if it runs its own store.
File for what you sell now and what is genuinely on the roadmap, not for every class that sounds related. One application can cover several classes, but an objection or opposition in one class then holds up the whole file, so some founders file the core class first and add others separately.
Step 5: Decide who owns the mark
File in the name of the company that owns the brand. If the company is not incorporated yet, a founder can file in their own name, but the mark must later be assigned to the company in writing. Investors’ due diligence will ask who owns the brand, and “a founder, personally” is an answer that causes delay at the worst moment.
The same question arises with logos made by a freelancer or agency. Make sure the design contract transfers the rights in the artwork to the company before you file the logo as a mark.
When to file, and the startup fee
File once the name has cleared your search and before you spend on the brand. The application is made in Form TM-A on IP India’s e-filing system, and the official fee is charged per class. The First Schedule to the 2017 Rules sets a lower fee for individuals, startups and small enterprises than for other applicants; check the current amounts on the IP India forms and fees page before filing.
Rule 2 of the 2017 Rules defines a startup as an entity recognised as a startup by the competent authority under the Startup India initiative, and a small enterprise by reference to the investment limits in section 7 of the MSMED Act, 2006. A company with DPIIT recognition should be ready to support its category with the recognition certificate. If you have not yet applied for recognition, our Startup India recognition support covers that application.
The application also asks whether the mark is already in use (with a date of first use) or proposed to be used. Claiming an earlier use date helps only if you can prove it, so keep dated invoices, website captures and marketing material from day one.
Step 6: Use ™ while you wait
Once the application is filed you can use ™ next to the mark. It signals a claim; it is not a registration. Do not use ® until the mark is registered, and then only for the registered goods or services. Falsely representing a mark as registered is a contravention of section 107 of the Act, and investors and marketplace partners do notice.
What happens after you file
Examination. The application is checked and examined. If the examiner objects, usually under section 9 or section 11, you have one month from receiving the examination report to reply (Rule 33(4)), and a hearing may follow. Our objection reply drafting covers this stage. Rule 34 also allows a request for expedited processing if timing matters before a funding round or launch.
Status updates. The IP India portal shows a status for every application. Each label has a specific meaning and next step, which our post on trademark application status explains.
Publication and opposition. An accepted mark is advertised in the Trade Marks Journal, and anyone may oppose it within four months (Rule 42). If that happens, a counterstatement is due within two months of receiving the notice (Rule 44). Keep the email address on the application monitored: an unanswered opposition is a common way startups lose a mark they had already paid for.
Registration. If there is no opposition, or it is decided in your favour, the mark is registered. The registration is dated from the application date and gives the exclusive right to use the mark for the registered goods or services, and to sue for infringement (section 28).
Renewal. A registration lasts ten years and is renewed in Form TM-R, from up to one year before expiry (section 25, Rule 57). Our post on the trademark renewal period sets out the full timeline.
What founders commonly get wrong
- Waiting for revenue before filing. Someone else’s earlier filing date can block you regardless of who launched first in practice.
- Filing only the logo. A logo registration may not stop a competitor using the same name in a different design.
- Filing in a founder’s name and forgetting to assign. This surfaces at due diligence, usually with a deadline attached.
- Filing in too many classes. It costs more and widens the target for objections and oppositions.
- Ignoring the portal after filing. Examination reports and oppositions have short deadlines.
- Using ® early. It is a legal claim, not a design element.
Frequently asked questions
Can a startup that is not yet incorporated file a trademark?
Yes. A founder can file as an individual and assign the mark to the company once it is incorporated.
Does DPIIT recognition reduce the renewal fee too?
The First Schedule shows one TM-R renewal fee for all applicants, unlike TM-A, which has a lower rate for startups. Check the current fee page before renewing.
Is a trademark registered in India valid abroad?
No. Trademark rights are territorial. If you plan to sell in other countries, you will need protection there, either directly or through the international (Madrid) system.
Complianto (complianto.in), operated by Mentorcorp Private Limited, is a private consultancy and is not affiliated with any government body. We do not issue official documents. We charge a professional fee for application assistance and advisory services. Applicants can apply directly to the government without our fees via the official portals: MCA (mca.gov.in), Income Tax (incometax.gov.in), GST (gst.gov.in), MSME (udyamregistration.gov.in), FSSAI (foscos.fssai.gov.in), Startup India (startupindia.gov.in), and IP India (ipindia.gov.in).
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice.
