New Trademark Rules: 5 things that have changed

Changes have been made in ease of doing business, Slashing of prices, Digital Drive, more

The government on Monday notified a new set of trademark rules which have replaced the old rules instituted way back in 2002.

This is expected to help expedite the approval process and increase filings, both of which have shown positive trends over the past few months. While the examination time for an application has been brought down from 13 months to just 1 month in January 2017, official figures suggest that filings have jumped 35 per cent in 2015-16 against the previous year.

Here are 5 things you need to know that have changed in the new rules.

Ease of doing business

First and most importantly, the number of forms that an applicant had to fill out, has been reduced from a staggering 74 to a more reasonable eight. This had been a major hurdle for applicants and had come out during the government's meeting with various stakeholders who warned that it deterred first time applicants.

Slashing of prices

The new rules have brought down the application fees for individuals, start-ups and small enterprises to Rs 4,500, almost half of the Rs 8000 price proposed at the draft stage in framing the rules.

Digital Drive

The steps for service of documents from applicants to the registry and vice versa through electronic means have been introduced to expedite the process. Also, email has been made an essential part of address for service to be provided by the applicant or any party to the proceedings so that an office communication can be emailed. 

Push for e-filings

To promote e-filing of applications, the fee for online filing has been kept at 10 per cent lower than that for physical filing. Overall fees have been rationalised by reducing the number of entries in Schedule I from 88 to just 23. 

Clarity in approval process

To boost ease of doing business, the method to determinate well-known trademarks has been clarified for the first time. Also, provisions relating to expedited processing of an application for registration of a trademark have been extended right up to the registration stage. It was only up to the examination stage.