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Trademark Hearing in India

Overview

A Trademark hearing is a physical appearance before the registrar of trademark both in person or through an attorney. Trademark hearing can also be done through video conferencing either in person or through an attorney or an agent for removal of the objections that were raised by the examiner in their examination report. The prospects of Trademark objections are nowadays very important and trademark hearing occurs if the examiner is not satisfied with the response filed by the applicant at the time of issuance of examination report.

Benefits of Trademark Hearing

  • If the mark is registered, the owner of the trademark is legally protected i.e. he has an exclusive right to take action against the infringer or any person who is using his trademark in an unauthorized manner.
  • As Trademark comes under intellectual Property of the company, it can be changed or approved to produce income. A registered trademark builds a brand value in the minds of customers and in the market.
  • A registered brand creates trust amongst its customers. Every customer feels secured with the brand whose trademark is filed with the trademark authority.

Requirements of Trademark

An ideal trademark should be distinctive in nature and is able to distinguish itself from those of others. A perfect trademark should be unique from other trademark of the same class and should be ready to be registered and protected following are the few qualities of a good trademark that should be considered before trademark registration-

  • A trademark must be a mark consisting of a device, brand, label, heading, ticket, word, letter, tagline, packaging, numeral, a combination of colours o any sequence of the above attributes.
  • It should be simple and short to be catched easily by the customers.
  • Furter, it should be easy to identify and remember. A good trademark that is short can be easily identified as well.
  • It should not be too long to preferably forget easily. If it is lengthy or difficult, people will not be able to recognize it for long and ultimately people will forget the brand.
  • It must be unique in nature. It should be distinct or must have obtained distinctiveness.
  • I can only be indicative of the nature of the products, but not descriptive.
  • A good trademark should be excluded under the Trademarks Act under the prohibited categories of Trademark.

Procedure for Trademark Hearing

Following are the procedure for Trademark Hearing-

  • As per the terms and date specified in the hearing notice, a person or his trademark/agent/ attorney has to be present before the authority with the necessary documents and submissions.
  • No formal code has been decided for hearing but it has to be formal.
  • After reaching the examiner for hearing, the case has to be put along with your documentary evidence, submissions, and related case laws. After setting up your entire case to the administrator, he will either deliver his choice at that moment only (accepted/rejected) or he can reserve his decision for a few days.

Territorial jurisdiction of trademark Hearing

The regional jurisdiction for trademark application and hearing is divided into five zones under which several States and Union territories have been classified, which are as follows-

  • Mumbai- State of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa
  • Ahmedabad- State of rajasthan and Gujarat and Union territories of Dadra, Diu, Daman, and Nagar Haveli
  • Kolkata- the State of Assam, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, West Bengal, Mizoram, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Tripura, Jharkhand and Union Territories Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Nagaland.
  • Delhi- The State of Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Union territories of Candigarh and Uttarakhand.
  • Chennai- The State of Andhra Pradesh, TamilNadu, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Lakshadweep Island and Union territories of Pondicherry.

How to adjourn a Trademark Hearing?

A Trademark Hearing can be extended or suspended for non appearance of applicant or agent or attorney suo moto by filing of a TM-M form for extension of time along with the prescribed fees. The form has to be submitted at least three days from the date of hearing. If you do not wish to attend a trademark hearing, the concerned administrator may adjourn for two to three times on his choice but not more than that. Not attending the hearing without rir intimation to the officer, your trademark will be abandoned by the registrar of trademark for not taking appropriate action in time.

Documents required for Trademark Hearing

Documents for Trademark hearing differs case to case, but few of the documents mentioned below are for reference-

  • Power of Attorney if the Trademark is filed through an attorney.
  • Letter of permission is required to approve the lawyer or any person visiting the hearing; a permission letter shall be provided by the candidate.
  • User affidavit is required. The date of practice perors a significant role in making your trademark registered. Therefore, the candidate indicates the usage and practice date of a trademark registered by choosing a usage affidavit made, an applicant must give its use affidavit against usage of its mark.
  • Before going to hearing, make sure to have short notes of the necessary things like case laws and examples associated with your case. Additionally you must provide proof that makes your case effective and prove your ability of your trademark being registered.
  • Proof of business
  • Examination report
  • Hearing report and notice

FAQs

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A Trademark show cause hearing comes into picture when the objection raised by the examiner, and the response to it given by the applicant is not satisfactory, then it is put up for a show cause hearing.
The registrar calls upon the applicant by issuing a notice to appear before him.
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After submitting a response within 30 days from the date of issuance of final report, the register maintains through the response and records all the submissions addressed therein. If the response submitted by the applicant is not satisfactory the the trademark status will be converted to “Ready for show cause hearing’ and within a few months hearing notice will be issued to the applicant and hearing will be notified.
The name of the examiner will be updated before one or two days of the hearing. It is necessary to track your trademark status in order to protect your brand name from getting abandoned.
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A hearing notice is sent to the applicant or to the attorney or agent, informing them about the date of hearing. Hearing notice is sent usually 15 days from the date of hearing.
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When the Trademark is objected, thirty day time is given to give its response to the registrar. Once written submissions are executed, the registrar/examiner either accepts the trademark or posts a hearing for providing arguments to be put forth in person.
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The regisarra will dispose of the application after giving the hearing opportunity to the party. After the refusal or denial of a review petition, an appeal can be filed in the appellate authority. Appeal can be filed within three months of such refusal.
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Yes there can be joint owners for a trademark. A trademark can hold many owners. If two or more individuals wish to get joint control and ownership, they may register jointly for a trademark. As with any mark, a mutually recognized trademark must be applied to improve or sell goods or services.

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