The ₹9,000 slab, and when you can halve it
Under the First Schedule to the Trade Marks Rules, 2017, e-filing of Form TM-A costs ₹4,500 per mark per class for an individual, startup or small enterprise, and ₹9,000 per class for everyone else.
A private limited company in Gurugram defaults to ₹9,000. But the reduced slab is available where the applicant holds a valid Udyam registration as a small enterprise, or DPIIT recognition as a startup - and a large number of Gurugram companies hold one or both without connecting them to the trademark filing.
The certificate has to be attached to Form TM-A at the time of filing. It cannot be claimed afterwards, and there is no refund. On a four-class filing that is the difference between ₹18,000 and ₹36,000 in government fees alone.
Group entities and who should own the mark
Gurugram has an unusually high density of group structures - a holding company, an operating company, sometimes a separate IP entity, and often a foreign parent.
The applicant named on Form TM-A becomes the registered proprietor, and moving the mark afterwards means an assignment, a Form TM-P recordal and, where the transfer is without goodwill, a Section 42 advertisement. Deciding ownership before filing is materially cheaper than correcting it after.
Where a group entity other than the user will own the mark, the licence to the operating company should be documented at the same time, with a real quality control clause. See our pages on trademark assignment and trademark licensing.
Class strategy for B2B and SaaS
Software and technology businesses routinely file in Class 42 for the technology itself and Class 9 where there is a downloadable product, and frequently need Class 35 for business services delivered through the platform.
Getting this wrong in either direction costs. Too narrow and a competitor occupies the class you actually trade in. Too wide and the specification attracts objections and oppositions you then pay to answer.