What happens after you file: every TM application status, explained

You filed, you were handed an application number, and now you’re refreshing the IP India portal at odd hours reading a private dialect. Translation follows, in the order statuses usually appear.

“New Application” / “Send to Vienna Codification”

Received; logos are being coded for device searching. Nothing is asked of you. Your priority date is already locked, this is the calm part.

“Formalities Chk Pass” (or Fail)

The clerical audit: signatures, the TM-48 power of attorney, translations. “Pass” needs nothing. “Fail” lists a fixable defect with a deadline, annoying, rarely fatal, unless ignored.

“Marked for Exam”

Queued for an examiner. Durations vary with Registry workload, weeks to months. Still nothing to do.

“Objected”

The examination report has issued, raising Section 9 and/or Section 11 grounds, and your reply is due within 30 days of receipt. This is the status that matters. It is not a rejection, it’s an argument you’re invited to win; the anatomy is on our objection reply page.

“Accepted & Advertised” / “Advertised bef acc”

Your mark is in the weekly Trade Marks Journal for its 4-month opposition window. Most marks pass through quietly; if a rival does file, the status becomes “Opposed” and the opposition procedure begins, where your 2-month counter-statement deadline is absolute.

“Registered”

On the register; digital certificate issued; ® earned. Ten years of protection from the filing date, renewable forever, diarise the renewal now, while you’re thinking about it.

The unhappy branches

“Refused” follows a lost hearing (review and appeal exist); “Abandoned” almost always means a deadline was missed, the report reply or the counter statement. The entire sad-status family is avoidable with a watched calendar, which is a large part of what you hire a practice for.