Form TM-A: Trademark Application Form, Fields and Fees

Form TM-A is the application form for registering a trademark in India. Since the Trade Marks Rules, 2017, it is a single form for every type of application. It replaced the separate application forms of the 2002 Rules, such as TM-1 (one class), TM-51 (several classes), and the old forms for convention, collective, certification and series applications. It can be filed online on the IP India portal, which costs less, or on paper at the Trade Marks Registry.

What Form TM-A asks for

• Applicant: full name exactly as on PAN or registration, address, and nationality or country of incorporation.
• Type of applicant: individual, startup, small enterprise, or other. This decides the fee.
• Address for service in India, and the agent or attorney details if someone files for you, with their authorisation.
• Type of mark: word, device (logo), combination, shape, colour, sound, collective, certification or series.
• Representation of the mark: the word or a clear image of the logo, with a transliteration and translation if it has non-English words.
• Class or classes under the Nice classification, and the description of goods or services in each.
• Use claim: "proposed to be used", or the date of first use in India. A claim of earlier use needs a user affidavit with evidence.
• Priority claim, if you first applied for the same mark in a convention country and file in India within six months of that application. Give the filing date, country and application number of the earlier application.
• Signature of the applicant or the authorised agent, with the verification.

Government fee per class

• Individual, startup or small enterprise: ₹4,500 (e-filing).
• All others: ₹9,000 (e-filing).
• Physical filing costs more. The fee is per class, so a two-class application pays twice.

To claim the lower fee as a startup or small enterprise, keep the DPIIT recognition or Udyam certificate ready. See the fee concession and government fees for trademark registration.

Attachments you may need

• Authorisation of the agent or attorney, if filed through one. See what happened to Form TM-48.
• User affidavit with evidence, if you claim use before the filing date. See the user affidavit.
• DPIIT or Udyam certificate, for the lower fee.
• Priority document, for a convention priority claim.

Before you file

1. Search the mark first: how to do a trademark public search.
2. Choose the class: trademark class finder.
3. Decide who should own it: who should own the trademark.

After filing, track the application status. If it shows a defect or objection, see trademark filing problems.