Use ™ with any brand you are claiming as your trademark, whether or not you have applied. Use ® only after the Trade Marks Registry has registered the mark, and only on the goods or services it is registered for. Putting ® on a mark that is not registered in India is a false representation under section 107 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, and attracts a penalty.
That is the whole rule in one paragraph. The rest of this post covers the grey areas: pending applications, partly registered marks, foreign registrations and lapsed registrations. If your brand is not yet filed, our trademark filing assistance prepares and files the application so you can move from ™ to ® once it is registered.
What each symbol means
| Symbol | What it signals | Who may use it |
|---|---|---|
| ™ | “We claim this as our trademark” | Anyone, for a mark they use or have applied for |
| SM | Same claim, for a service mark | Anyone; seen mainly on US-style branding |
| ® | “This mark is registered” | Only the owner of a mark registered in India, for the registered goods or services (subject to the foreign-registration exceptions below) |
™ and SM are not registration claims, so they carry no legal effect of their own. They simply put others on notice that you treat the word or logo as a brand. SM is uncommon in India; ™ is generally used for both goods and services.
What section 107 prohibits
Section 107 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 is wider than just “don’t use ® on an unregistered mark”. It covers representing:
- a mark that is not registered as a registered trademark;
- a part of a registered mark, which is not itself registered, as a registered mark;
- a registered mark as registered for goods or services it is not registered for;
- that registration gives an exclusive right in circumstances where, given a limitation on the register, it does not.
The section also explains that using the word “registered”, or any word or symbol that refers to registration, counts as a representation of registration in India. So writing “Regd.” or “Registered Trademark” carries the same risk as the ® symbol.
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 amended this section. Check the current penalty, and how it is imposed, with your adviser before you rely on any figure. A false claim also damages credibility in any later dispute with a competitor.
The grey areas
My application is filed and accepted. Can I use ® now?
No. Filing, acceptance and advertisement in the Trade Marks Journal are steps towards registration, not registration. Keep using ™ until the status shows Registered.
My word mark is registered but my new logo is not
Put ® only next to the registered element. If the logo as a whole is not registered, writing ® next to the full logo can suggest the entire device is registered. Use ® next to the registered word and ™ on the logo, or file the logo too.
My mark is registered for clothing (Class 25), and I now sell bags
Using ® on bags represents the mark as registered for goods it does not cover. Use ™ on the bags, or file in the relevant class.
My mark is registered abroad but not in India
Section 107(3) carves out cases where the reference is clearly to a foreign registration in force in that country, where the expression itself shows the registration is foreign, and where the mark is registered abroad and the goods are to be exported to that country (or services are for use there). Outside those cases, using ® in India on a mark registered only abroad is risky. If you sell in India, register in India.
My registration has expired
A registration lasts ten years and must be renewed. If it is not renewed, the Registrar may remove the mark from the register, subject to the six-month surcharge window and one-year restoration window under Rules 59 and 60 of the Trade Marks Rules, 2017. Once the mark is off the register, stop using ® until it is restored or re-registered.
Practical rules for packaging, websites and ads
- Use the symbol at least once in a prominent place, usually the first or most visible use. You do not need it on every mention.
- Keep a short internal list: which marks are registered, in which classes, and their renewal dates. Marketing teams usually add symbols from memory, which is how errors creep in.
- When you design packaging before registration, use ™ in the artwork. Switching to ® later is a small file change; recalling printed stock is not.
- For marketplaces and app stores, check the brand-registry rules of the platform too. Many ask for a registration or an application number, separately from the symbol you print.
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.
