Trademark Renewal in India: Procedure, Timeline & Consequences of Non-Renewal

By Vedika Mittal, Sharma Kemp Chambers

A registered trade mark in India is not a one-time grant; it is a ten-year licence that must be actively renewed, indefinitely, for as long as the owner wants to keep it. Unlike a patent, there is no outer limit on the number of renewals, but there is also no automatic rollover. At Sharma Kemp Chambers, a recurring instruction I receive is not a contested opposition or an infringement claim, but a brand owner who has discovered, often during a funding round, an acquisition, or a marketplace brand-registry review, that a core mark lapsed years ago because a renewal notice went to an old address or was simply missed.

This guide sets out the renewal procedure and timeline under Section 25 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, what happens at each stage of default, the restoration route once a mark has already been removed, and a recent and consistent line of Delhi High Court rulings that gives lapsed owners more room to recover than many assume.

Quick Timeline: What Happens and When

Before the detail, here is the sequence I walk clients through the moment a renewal date is approaching or has already passed:

• Up to 12 months before expiry. The renewal window opens. Filing early costs the same as filing on the expiry date and removes the risk of missing it altogether.
• 1 to 3 months before expiry. The Registrar is required to issue a statutory renewal reminder, commonly called the O-3 notice, to the registered proprietor’s address for service.
• On expiry (10 years from the date of registration, or the last renewal). If no renewal application has been filed, the mark becomes liable to removal, but is not yet struck off.
• Expiry to 6 months after. A grace period during which the mark can still be renewed on payment of the prescribed fee plus a late surcharge.
• 6 months to 12 months after expiry. The grace period for ordinary renewal has closed, but a restoration and renewal application remains available, subject to the Registrar’s discretion and a higher combined fee.
• Beyond 12 months. In the ordinary course, the mark is liable to be struck off the Register permanently, and a fresh application, with a new filing date and no benefit of the original priority, becomes the only route back.

The Legal Framework Governing Renewal

Section 25 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999

Section 25(1) fixes the initial term of registration at ten years from the date of registration. Section 25(2) entitles the registered proprietor to renew for successive ten-year terms, on application in the prescribed form and payment of the prescribed fee, with no cap on how many times this can be repeated.

Section 25(3) is the safeguard provision, and the one most frequently litigated. It requires the Registrar to send the registered proprietor notice of the impending expiry, and of the conditions for renewal, before the registration lapses; only if those conditions remain unmet after the prescribed period may the Registrar remove the mark. The proviso to Section 25(3) preserves the mark from removal if a renewal application, together with the prescribed surcharge, is filed within six months of expiry.

Section 25(4) provides the restoration mechanism for marks that have already been removed: an application for restoration and renewal, made within one year of the expiry of the last registration, allows the Registrar to restore the mark and renew it, having regard to the interests of any other person who may have been affected by the removal.

Rule 57 and Form TM-R Under the Trade Marks Rules, 2017

Procedurally, Rule 57 of the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 governs the timing of renewal applications, permitting filing up to one year before expiry. The 2017 Rules consolidated what were previously several separate forms into a single Form TM-R, which now covers on-time renewal, late renewal within the six-month grace period, and restoration and renewal of a mark already removed, with the applicable fee and surcharge depending on which of these applies. Renewal fees are charged per class, so a registration covering multiple Nice classes requires the fee to be paid separately for each class, whether the filing is on time, late, or by way of restoration. Current official fees and surcharges are revised periodically, so the exact figures should always be checked against the Trade Marks Registry’s published fee schedule at the time of filing rather than assumed from historical figures.

The O-3 Notice: A Mandatory Precondition, Not a Formality

A point that is often overlooked, and that has produced a long and consistent line of Delhi High Court decisions, is that the Registrar’s obligation to issue the statutory renewal notice under Section 25(3) before removing a mark is mandatory, not directory. The Division Bench of the Delhi High Court held as much in Union of India v Malhotra Book Depot(2013), and the same principle has been applied and reaffirmed repeatedly since, including in Promoshirt SM S.A. v Registrar of Trade Marks and Ashok Bhutani v Registrar of Trademarks (both 2024), and in Rakesh Kumar Mittal v Registrar of Trade Marks and the Mehta Cosmetics “BLUE CHIP” ruling (2025 and 2026 respectively). In each of these cases, the Court held that removal of a mark without proof that the statutory notice was actually issued and served is invalid, and directed restoration of the mark, notwithstanding delays running to several years, where the Registry could not establish that the notice had been properly sent. This body of case law is genuinely useful for brand owners who discover a lapsed mark years after the fact: the starting assumption should not be that the mark is irretrievably lost, but that the Registry’s own compliance with Section 25(3) should be checked before conceding the point.

Step-by-Step: How to Renew a Trade mark in India

Step 1: Track Your Renewal Date Independently

Do not rely solely on the Registry’s O-3 notice reaching you. Maintain an internal renewal calendar for every registered mark and class, cross-checked against the Trade Marks Registry’s online status for the registration, since notices can go astray where an address for service, agent, or ownership has changed and not been formally updated on record.

Step 2: File Form TM-R Within the Renewal Window

File Form TM-R through the IP India e-filing portal (or physically, at a marginally higher fee), quoting the registration number and class, and pay the prescribed fee. This can be done any time from one year before expiry up to the expiry date itself at the standard fee.

Step 3: If the Deadline Has Passed, File Within the Six-Month Grace Period

If expiry has already passed, Form TM-R can still be filed within six months of the expiry date, on payment of the renewal fee plus the prescribed late surcharge, and the mark will not be removed from the Register.

Step 4: If the Grace Period Has Also Passed, Apply for Restoration

Between six months and one year after expiry, file Form TM-R for restoration and renewal, together with the enhanced fee covering the renewal, surcharge, and restoration component. The Registrar will consider the interests of any third party who may have been affected by the mark’s removal before deciding whether to restore it, and where the application is allowed, the restoration is advertised in the Trade Marks Journal.

Step 5: Verify the Registry Actually Issued the Statutory Notice

Where a mark has already been struck off and more than a year has passed, before accepting that a fresh application is the only option, request the Registry’s records (including, where necessary, through an RTI application) to confirm whether the O-3 notice under Section 25(3) was in fact issued and correctly addressed. If it was not, or was sent to a superseded address after the Registry had actual knowledge of a change, this is a strong basis for a writ petition before the appropriate High Court seeking a direction to restore the registration, regardless of how much time has elapsed.

Step 6: If Restoration Is Genuinely Unavailable, File Afresh

Where the mark has been correctly and lawfully removed and more than a year has passed, the only route back is a new application. This means a new filing date, no benefit of the original priority, and full exposure to examination and third-party opposition, including from anyone who may have adopted a similar mark in the interim.

Consequences of Non-Renewal at Each Stage

Practical Checklist for Managing Renewals

• Centralise your renewal calendar. For businesses with a portfolio of marks across classes and jurisdictions, a single master schedule, checked against the Registry’s own database rather than relying on notices alone, is the most effective safeguard.
• Keep the address for service current. Update the Registry promptly whenever your registered address, agent, or ownership structure changes, and confirm the update is reflected on record rather than assuming it has been actioned.
• File early, not on the deadline. Filing up to a year in advance costs the same as filing on the expiry date and removes execution risk entirely.
• Don’t assume a lapsed mark is lost. If you discover a mark has been struck off, check whether the statutory O-3 notice was properly issued before conceding the registration is unrecoverable.
• Budget renewal costs per class, not per mark. A registration spanning several Nice classes multiplies the renewal fee, surcharge, and any restoration fee accordingly.

Two Hypothetical Scenarios

Scenario 1: Renewal Missed During an Internal Reorganisation

A mid-sized consumer goods company changes its registered office and its trade mark agent within the same year that a core brand’s renewal falls due. The Registry’s O-3 notice is sent to the old address and returned undelivered. The company only discovers the lapse fourteen months later, during due diligence for an investment round. Rather than assuming the mark is permanently lost, the company’s counsel obtains the Registry’s dispatch records, confirms the notice was sent to a superseded address after the change had already been communicated to the Registry, and files a writ petition. Consistent with the recent line of Delhi High Court rulings on this point, the Court directs restoration of the mark notwithstanding the delay.

Scenario 2: Straightforward Late Renewal

A small manufacturer misses its renewal deadline by four months due to an internal administrative oversight, but its records confirm the O-3 notice was correctly received and simply not actioned in time. Since the lapse falls within the six-month grace period, the manufacturer files Form TM-R with the prescribed surcharge, and the mark continues without interruption or loss of rights.

Conclusion

Renewal is the most routine, and most routinely mishandled, obligation in trade mark ownership. The statutory windows under Section 25 give a registered proprietor a genuinely wide runway, up to a year of advance filing, a further six-month grace period, and a restoration route extending to a full year after expiry, before a mark is permanently lost. Just as importantly, the Registry’s own obligation to issue proper notice before removal is a real and enforceable safeguard, not a formality, and a growing body of case law means a lapsed mark should never be written off without first checking whether that safeguard was actually complied with. The most effective protection, however, remains the simplest: an internal renewal calendar that does not depend on a notice arriving at all.

Need Legal Advice?

For specialist advice on trade mark renewal, restoration, and portfolio management in India, contact Vedika Mittal at Sharma Kemp Chambers.

Sources

1. Trade Marks Act, 1999, Government of India Legislative Department
2. Trade Marks Rules, 2017, Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks
3. Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, Trade Marks e-filing Portal
4. Delhi High Court, Union of India v Malhotra Book Depot, LPA 564/2012 (2013)