Trademark renewal in India: deadlines, the grace period, and restoration

The trademark is the only IP right that can outlive everyone reading this, renewed every ten years, indefinitely. The catch is purely calendrical, so here is the calendar.

The windows

The final year before expiry: standard renewal on Form TM-R, indicative government fee ₹9,000 per class, e-filing (verify at ipindia.gov.in). Up to 6 months after expiry: late renewal with surcharge, costlier, still routine. 6 to 12 months after expiry: the mark has been removed; you’re now applying for restoration, which is discretionary and slower. Beyond a year: generally a fresh application, with a new priority date and none of your accumulated seniority.

Why a lapsed mark is an emergency, not an errand

Competitors and squatters watch the register. A removed mark is an open invitation to file an identical application, and suddenly the brand you built is defending itself in an opposition, arguing history it once owned outright. Restoration exists precisely because businesses forget; discretion exists because the Registry needn’t indulge everyone. Don’t rely on either.

Renewal is also an audit moment

Before filing TM-R, check the register tells the truth: right owner (or is a founder’s old proprietorship still named?, see assignment), right address for notices, and whether your actual business has outgrown the classes you hold. Renewing a stale record preserves stale protection.

And remember the use requirement

Renewal keeps a registration alive; it doesn’t immunise it. A mark unused for a continuous 5 years and 3 months can be removed on a third party’s non-use application regardless of paid fees. Keep trading under the mark, keep dated evidence, invoices, packaging, listings, and the registration stays as strong as its paperwork. We run renewal diaries for client portfolios so none of the windows above is ever discovered in past tense; details on the renewal page.