Trademark Rules

PART I – PRELIMINARY

1. Short title and Commencement

(1) These rules may be called the Trade Marks Rules, 2017.

(2)  They shall come into force on date of publication in the official Gazette.

2. >– (1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, —

“Act” means the Trade Marks Act, 1999 (47 of 1999);

“agent” means a person authorised to act as such under section 145 of the Act;

“application for registration of a trademark” includes the trademark for goods or services contained in it;

“appropriate office of the Trade Marks Registry” means the relevant office of the Trade Marks Registry as specified in rule 4;

“class fee” means the fee prescribed for the filing of an application for registration of a trademark in a particular class;

“convention country” means a country or group of countries or union of countries or Inter-Governmental organisations of countries declared as such under sub-section (1) of section 154;

“convention application” means an application for registration of a trademark made by virtue of section 154;

“divisional application” means-

(i) an application containing a request for the division of goods or services in a  class for the registration of a trade mark; or

(ii) a divided application made by the division of a single application for the registration of a trade mark for separate classes of goods or services;  

“divisional fee” means fee prescribed against entry 14 in the First Schedule;

“Form” means a form set forth in either the Second or the Third Schedule;

“graphical representation” means the representation of a trademark for goods or services represented or capable of being represented in paper form and includes representation in digitised form;

“Journal” means the trademarks Journal made available at official website of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks;

“notified date” means the date on which these rules come into force;

“old law” means the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 and  rules made there under existing immediately before the commencement of the Act;

“opposition” means an opposition to the registration of a trademark or a collective trademark or a certification trademark, as the case may be and includes an opposition to grant of protection to an international registration designating India and opposition to alteration of registered trademark;

“principal place of business in India”  means the relevant place in India as specified in rule 3;

“publish” means published in the trademarks Journal made available on the official website of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks;

“registered trademark agent” means a trademark agent whose name is actually on the register of trademarks agents maintained under rule 142;

“renewal” means and includes renewal of registration of a trademark, certification trademark or collective trademark, as the case may be;

“schedule” means a Schedule to the rules;

“section” means a section of the Act;