All about Trademark objection under Section 9- process, documents, the format of reply

After the examination of all trademark applications, the registrar finally decides on whether the application can be accepted or not. If not accepted, the registrar will mark the application as objected with specific reasons. The examination report will also be communicated to the applicant/trademark agent for submitting a reply to the examination report. Trademark Objection is the second stage of the process of Trademark Registration. All the Trademark applications submitted are examined by the Registrar of Trademarks. Wherein if the Examination Report says that the Trademark has been objected then, it is necessary to file Trademark Objection Reply within the stipulated time with all the necessary documents.

The Trade Marks Office can, for various reasons, have objections to your trademark application. This may be because the word or logo is too similar or resembling to an existing trademark, or for various other reasons. Law gives you an opportunity to respond professionally and reply to trademark objections raised. You must file your response to this objection within a month from when the Examination Report has been published online. If you don’t, the Registrar may abandon your application.

Reasons for Trademark Objections

Following are the major reasons for marking the application and areas objected by the Registrar of Trademark:

• If the trademark does not have a distinctive character or is not capable of distinguishing the goods or services.
• If the trademark applied for registration is very similar to the marks that have been already registered or applied for.

Trademark Objection Reply: Basic Requirements

Once a trademark objection report is filed the following should be done importantly:

• Reply within 30 days of getting the report
• The applicant also has to file the reply to the same within 30 days of the objection. If the reply is not filed within 30 days, the application will be declared abandoned.
• If an extension of Time for Reply beyond 30 days is required the applicant has to apply for an extension of time for filing a reply in Form TM-M with requisite (₹900.00).

Points to be remembered while filing reply to Trademark Objection

The Trademark Objection Response

If the registrar believes that the application is liable for objection, then the status of the application is changed to OBJECTED. A copy of that examination report also is communicated to that trademark agent stating the reason for the objection and the applicant also has to file a reply to the same within 30 days of the objection.

Analyse the examination report

The basic step is to analyse and examine the report and to determine the reason for the objection being raised.

Draft a reply to the Objection

The next step is to prepare an objection reply, which mentions the proper answer to the objection that is being raised with the supporting rule of law and judgements which support your claim. Along with that, you can also provide all other supporting documents and evidence that validates the response.

Deadline for reply

The reply to objection has to be mandatorily filed within 30 days of the examination report with supporting documents.

In case Reply is accepted

If the response is accepted successfully, the application shall be processed further for registration and advertisement in the Trademark Journal.

If the application is rejected

If the application is not accepted, the registry will mark the matter for hearing, and the date and time will be notified to the Trademark Agent.

Documents required for filing trademark objection reply:

A formal reply to the examination report is compulsorily required to be submitted with sold clarifications and evidence on to why the application is to be accepted. Following are the documents that are required for filing the reply for the Trademark objection.

• Power of Attorney
• Reply to Examination Report
• Documentary proof of Trademark in commercial use. This includes documents like invoices, letterheads and communications, visiting cards, screenshots of websites, brochures, financial statements, and all other evidence where the trademark is being used.

The applicant usually gets an opportunity of being heard and the chances of Trademark being rejected straight away is very less. If the objection reply is filed perfectly then the chances of getting the trademark rejected are very less.

Suggested Read: Types of Trademark that can be registered in India?