Not registered yet? Start with trademark registration.
When a trademark falls due for renewal
Registration is valid for ten years from the date of filing of the application, not from the date the certificate was issued. This catches people out constantly, because a mark filed in 2016 and registered in 2020 comes up for renewal in 2026, not 2030. Section 25 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 governs the whole cycle.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Form TM-R | The renewal application, filed for a further ten year term from the expiry of the previous registration. |
| Form RG-3 | The notice of approaching expiry. Under Rule 58 the Registrar sends it not more than six months before expiry, to the address of service on the register. Form O-3 was the equivalent form under the 2002 Rules. |
| Restoration | Under section 25(4) read with Rule 60, available after six months and within one year of expiry. Not automatic: the request is advertised in the Trade Marks Journal and can be objected to. |
| Priority date | Lost permanently if the mark is removed. A fresh TM-A application carries a new filing date, so anyone who filed in the interim sits ahead of you. |
How to find your renewal due date
Look up the date of application, not the date on the certificate, and add ten years.
Three ways to get it, in order of reliability:
- The IP India public search. Search by your application or registration number on the Trade Marks public search. The record shows the date of application, the class, the current status and the validity date. This is the register, so it is the version that counts.
- Your registration certificate. It carries the application number and the date of application. The certificate's own issue date is not the renewal trigger.
- The RG-3 notice. Under Rule 58, where no renewal application has been received the Registrar sends a notice in Form RG-3 not more than six months before expiry, to the address of service on the register.
That third route is the one that fails. RG-3 goes to the address of service, which for most marks is the agent who filed the application ten years ago. If you changed your CA, changed your office, or let an old email lapse, the notice reaches nobody. Section 25(3) does not excuse a missed renewal because the notice was not received, so treat RG-3 as a courtesy and diarise the date yourself.
If the mark has changed hands, check the proprietor on record before anything else. Only the registered proprietor can renew. Where the assignment deed was signed but never recorded, the register still shows the seller, and the renewal has to wait for a Form TM-P recordal to go through first.
The four renewal windows
You can file Form TM-R at any time in the last year before expiry. After expiry there are two paid windows, and then the mark is gone.
| Window | When | Form | Government fee per class (e-filing) | Status of the mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early or on time | Any time up to one year before expiry (Rule 57) | TM-R | ₹9,000 | Stays on the register throughout |
| Grace with surcharge | Expiry to 6 months after (proviso to s.25(3); Rule 59) | TM-R | ₹13,500 (₹9,000 plus ₹4,500 surcharge) | Expired but not removed |
| Restoration and renewal | After 6 months and within 1 year of expiry (s.25(4); Rule 60) | TM-R | ₹18,000 (₹9,000 plus ₹9,000 restoration) | Removed; restoration is advertised in the Journal and can be opposed |
| Closed | More than 1 year after expiry | None | Not available | Off the register permanently; only a fresh TM-A application is left |
Two things follow from the table. Restoration is not a right: Rule 60 requires the Registrar to be satisfied that it is just to restore, and the request is advertised, so a competitor can object. And there is no fourth chance. Past one year you file a new trademark application and you take a new filing date.
The renewal process
- Check the register. We check the registration number, the proprietor on record and the renewal due date against the IP India register before filing.
- Fix the window. On time, grace with surcharge, or restoration. That decides the form fee and whether a Journal advertisement is involved.
- File Form TM-R, for every class the mark is registered in.
- Register updated. The renewal is entered on the register once the Registrar processes the application. A restoration takes longer because it is advertised in the Trade Marks Journal and can be opposed.
Trademark renewal fees
Our professional fee is on quote. The government fee for Form TM-R is fixed and does not change with the size of your business.
Government fee, Form TM-R (First Schedule, Trade Marks Rules, 2017)
| What you are filing | Per class, e-filing | Per class, physical filing |
|---|---|---|
| Renewal, filed before expiry | ₹9,000 | ₹10,000 |
| Renewal with surcharge, within 6 months after expiry | ₹13,500 | ₹15,000 |
| Restoration plus renewal, 6 to 12 months after expiry | ₹18,000 | ₹20,000 |
| Any other request, for example an extension of time (Form TM-M) | ₹900 | ₹1,000 |
Professional fee
| Service | Regikart fee |
|---|---|
| Form TM-R renewal, per class per mark | Fee on quote |
| Restoration and renewal, including the Journal advertisement stage | Fee on quote |
Professional fees exclude GST at 18%. Government fees, where they apply, are paid at actuals to the department and are shown separately. Fees verified on 22 September 2026.
What it comes to in practice
| Situation | Government fee |
|---|---|
| One class, renewed before expiry | ₹9,000 |
| Three classes, renewed before expiry | ₹27,000 |
| Three classes, renewed in the grace window | ₹40,500 |
| Three classes, restored after removal | ₹54,000 |
The 50 per cent concession that individuals, startups and small enterprises get on a fresh TM-A application does not exist for renewal. The First Schedule carries one renewal fee, ₹9,000 per class, and everyone pays it.
Forms and documents for a renewal
One form does the whole job. The documents exist to prove you are the person entitled to file it.
| Form or document | What it is | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| TM-R | Application for renewal, with or without surcharge, and for restoration | Every renewal |
| TM-48 | Power of attorney authorising the agent to act | Where we are not already on record for the mark |
| TM-P | Application to register a subsequent proprietor | Where the mark was assigned and never recorded |
| TM-M | Any other request, for example an extension of time | Case by case |
| Registration certificate or registration number | Identifies the mark and the date of application | Every renewal |
| RG-3 notice | The Registrar's notice of approaching expiry | If you received one |
There is no requirement to file evidence of use with a renewal. India does not run a use-based renewal system: you do not have to prove you used the mark to keep it on the register. Non-use is dealt with separately, on a petition by someone else under section 47. That is worth knowing, because a mark you renewed but stopped using is still exposed to rectification for non-use.
What a lapsed mark actually costs you
The refiling fee is the small part. The expensive part is the filing date.
- You lose the priority date. A fresh application under Form TM-A carries today's date. Anyone who filed in the intervening years now sits ahead of you, and your ten years of use becomes something you have to prove rather than something the register records.
- You lose the statutory infringement action. Section 29 is available to the proprietor of a registered mark. Once the mark is off the register you are down to passing off, where goodwill, misrepresentation and damage all have to be proved from scratch. See trademark infringement.
- You may not get the mark back. In the year after expiry a competitor can file for the same mark. On a fresh TM-A you are then examined against their application under section 11.
- Licensees are affected. A registered user entry hangs off a live registration, and franchise and distribution agreements that recite a registration number stop matching the register.
- The refiling fee is not trivial either. ₹4,500 per class for an individual, startup or small enterprise, ₹9,000 per class for everyone else, plus examination and the whole objection and opposition cycle again.
Mistakes we see on renewals
Every one of these is a calendar or records problem, not a legal one.
- Counting ten years from the certificate. A mark filed in 2016 and registered in 2020 is due in 2026, not 2030.
- Waiting for RG-3. The notice goes to the address of service, which is often an agent you no longer use.
- Renewing some classes and not others. The fee is per class. A multi-class mark renewed in two of its four classes is unprotected in the other two.
- An unrecorded assignment. The buyer cannot renew until TM-P is processed, and TM-P plus TM-R inside the grace window is tight.
- Assuming restoration is automatic. Rule 60 requires the Registrar to be satisfied, and the request is advertised in the Journal.
- Letting the email on record lapse. Every Registry communication, including the hearing link for any show cause hearing, goes to that address.
Redesigned your logo since the mark was filed? A materially different logo is a different mark, so it needs a fresh application rather than a renewal: see logo registration.