Trademark Registration in India

A trademark is a sign, a name, logo, tagline, or a combination, that identifies your goods or services and distinguishes them from everyone else's. Once registered, it gives you the exclusive right to use that mark for the classes you register in, and a strong legal basis to stop copycats.

You can use the ™ symbol as soon as you file, and the ® symbol only after the mark is registered. A registration lasts ten years and is renewable indefinitely.

WIPO updates the Nice Classification every three years. The 13th edition introduces a large set of amendments, reported at around 543 changes across goods and services, including new entries, wording edits, deletions and reclassifications.

Notable reclassifications:

• Eyewear, glasses, contact lenses and sunglasses move from Class 9 → Class 10 (smart glasses stay in Class 9).
• Emergency & rescue vehicles move from Class 9 → Class 12.
• Electrically heated clothing and socks move from Class 11 → Class 25.
• Essential oils are classified by purpose (cosmetic, medicinal or food) across Classes 3, 5, 1 or 30.
• Artificial intelligence as a service (AIaaS) is added to Class 42; smart products are classified by their main function.

What it means:

• Registrations and applications filed before 1 January 2026 stay valid and are not reclassified.
• New applications, renewals and Madrid filings from 2026 must comply with NCL (13-2026).
• During the transition, searches should cover both old and new classes, and older specifications may face objections or weaker protection.

A handful of marks earn protection that reaches far beyond the classes they register in. A well-known mark is so widely recognised by the public that the law, under Section 11(6)–11(11) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, blocks others from using a confusingly similar mark across every class, even on unrelated goods, where that use would ride on the mark's reputation.