Hearing submissions
Ask the Registrar to move a notified hearing for a specific, documented reason, while staying within the adjournment limits.
Legal references checked:
When and how to ask for an adjournment
The Registrar decides whether to grant an adjournment and on what terms, so the request should give one concrete reason, attach proof, disclose earlier adjournments and propose workable dates. In opposition proceedings, and in rectification proceedings through Rule 98, Rule 50(2) requires a request with reasonable cause on Form TM-M, with the prescribed fee, at least three days before the hearing. Its proviso allows each party no more than two adjournments of up to thirty days each. No rule deals expressly with adjourning an examination (show-cause) hearing, so follow the hearing notice and current Registry practice, and ask early. Until a new date is confirmed, prepare to attend on the notified date.
Filing period and procedure
Opposition and rectification hearings: Form TM-M with the prescribed fee, at least three days before the hearing, with no more than two adjournments per party of up to thirty days each (Rule 50(2), applied to rectification by Rule 98). Examination hearings: no rule sets a separate period or form, so follow the hearing notice and the Registry's current procedure.
Before you prepare the draft
Facts to confirm
- Type of proceeding (examination, opposition or rectification), its number, class and your party role
- Date of the hearing notice, date it was received, and the notified hearing date, time and mode
- The specific cause, who it affects and when it arose
- Number and dates of adjournments already granted to this party
- Dates on which the party and its representative can attend
Evidence to keep ready
- Hearing notice and proof of when it was received
- Document proving the cause, such as a court cause list, medical certificate or other dated record
- Authorisation of the representative on record
- TM-M filing receipt and fee record, where Rule 50(2) applies
- Copy of any intimation sent to the other party
Editable draft framework
Replace every [placeholder] and delete optional paragraphs that your facts do not support. You can edit the text below before copying it, or select it and use Ctrl+C or Command+C.
Check before filing
An adjournment is not automatic. A vague reason such as 'counsel busy' or 'more time needed', given without particulars or proof, gives the Registrar little basis to find reasonable cause. Keep preparing for the notified date, and keep checking the hearing status until a new date is confirmed in writing.
Where Rule 50 applies, a party who is absent at the adjourned hearing risks the application being treated as abandoned (Rule 50(3)) or the opposition being dismissed for want of prosecution (Rule 50(4)). The Registrar may also award costs for an adjournment, within the Fourth Schedule limit (Rule 118). In an examination hearing, Rule 33(7) allows the application to be treated as abandoned if the applicant does not appear and no reply to the examination report is on record.
This is an original drafting framework, not an official statutory form or an assurance of acceptance. Match the notice, application, evidence and service dates; use the prescribed form and complete the applicable filing, service and execution requirements.
Relevant law and official sources
- Trade Marks Act, 1999: Section 128 (hearing before a discretionary power is exercised adversely)
- Trade Marks Rules, 2017: Rule 50(2) to (4) (opposition hearings; applied to rectification by Rule 98)
- Trade Marks Rules, 2017: Rules 33(6), 33(7) and 115 (examination hearings; video-conferencing)
- Trade Marks Rules, 2017: Rule 118 and the Fourth Schedule (costs)
Trade Marks Act, 1999 — India Code
Trade Marks Rules, 2017 — IP India