Trademark Rectification Counterstatement Draft

Rectification and removal

Answer a rectification or non-use application paragraph by paragraph and put the registered proprietor's actual use and defences on record.

Legal references checked: 14 October 2026

How a registered proprietor answers a rectification application

After the Registrar sends the registered proprietor a copy of an application under Section 47 or 57, the proprietor contests it by filing a counterstatement on Form TM-O. Answer each paragraph: admit what is correct, deny what is wrong with reasons, and require proof of matters outside your knowledge, including the applicant's claim to be a person aggrieved. In a non-use case, plead the real use history by goods or services, period and user, and any export use, permitted use or special circumstances in the trade. Claim only use that your records support. Evidence comes later, so keep the pleading consistent with what you can prove.

Filing period and procedure

Rule 98: send the counterstatement on Form TM-O, with the prescribed fee, within two months from receipt of the Registrar's copy of the application, or within a further period not exceeding one month in the aggregate. If none is filed within three months of receipt, Rule 98 directs the applicant for rectification to file evidence, so treat the date as strict.

Before you prepare the draft

Facts to confirm

Date the Registrar's copy of the application was received
Each paragraph and ground in the statement of case
Registration details, renewals, ownership chain and recorded users
Actual use by goods or services, period, place and user, including licensees and exports
Any pending suit or other proceeding involving the mark

Evidence to keep ready

Application and statement of case as served, with proof of the date received
Register extract and assignment or succession documents
Dated invoices, sales figures, packaging, advertisements and online listings for the relevant period
Written licence or registered-user documents, if use by others is relied upon
Records of any legal or regulatory restriction relied upon as a special circumstance

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.

Draft text

Before the Registrar of Trade Marks
Rectification No. [number] concerning Registered Trade Mark No. [number], Class [class]
Mark: [mark]
Registered proprietor: [legal name]
Applicant for rectification: [legal name]
Counterstatement of the registered proprietor for Form TM-O

1. The registered proprietor received the copy of the rectification application and statement of case from the Registrar on [date]. It contests the application for the reasons below. [OPTIONAL—omit unless applicable:] A further period was requested on [date], and this counterstatement is filed within the period allowed by Rule 98.

2. Registered Trade Mark No. [number] for [mark] is registered in Class [class] for [specification]. The mark was entered in the register on [date], and the registration is valid up to [date]. The registered proprietor is [the original applicant/the successor under (document) dated (date), recorded on (date)]. [Registered users or permitted users: (details/none).]

3. On whether the applicant for rectification is a person aggrieved, the registered proprietor [admits the claim/denies it/does not admit it and requires proof], because [specific reasons, for example: the applicant's application covers different goods; the applicant has not shown any trade or genuine intended trade that the registration affects].

4. Reply to paragraph 1 of the statement of case: [admit the precise correct statement/deny the specific allegation with reasons/state that the matter is outside the registered proprietor's knowledge and require proof]. Repeat this format for paragraphs [remaining numbers]. Where a paragraph contains several allegations, answer each separately. No wider admission is made than [scope, if needed].

5. [For a Section 47 ground:] The mark has been used in India in relation to [specific goods/services] from [date] to [date], including the period from [start of the alleged period] to [date three months before the application], by [the registered proprietor/(name) as permitted user under the written agreement dated (date)]. The use consists of [sales, invoices, packaging, advertising, online listings—describe accurately]. Sales for the relevant years were [figures and source].

6. [OPTIONAL—omit unless supported:] The mark has been applied to goods exported from India [or used in relation to services for use outside India] since [date]. [OPTIONAL—omit unless supported:] The mark has been used in the form [description], which differs from the registered form only by [additions or alterations] that do not substantially affect its identity. [OPTIONAL—omit unless supported:] During the relevant period the mark was used in good faith in relation to [goods or services of the same description as, or associated with, the goods or services attacked], namely [details], which the proviso to Section 47(1) allows the Registrar to take into account.

7. [OPTIONAL—omit unless supported:] Any non-use in relation to [goods/services] during [period] was due to special circumstances in the trade, namely [specific restriction on use in India imposed by law or regulation, or other trade circumstance], and not to any intention to abandon or not to use the mark. The supporting facts are [facts and dates].

8. [OPTIONAL—omit unless applicable:] The registered proprietor does not rely on use for [goods/services] and does not contest the application to that extent. It contests the application for [remaining goods/services].

9. [For a Section 57 ground:] The allegation that the entry was [made without sufficient cause/wrongly remains on the register] because [ground pleaded] is denied for these reasons: [specific facts answering the pleaded ground].

10. Other proceedings: [No other proceeding involving this registration is known to the registered proprietor./Details: (court or Registry, number, parties and status).]

11. The registered proprietor requests that the rectification application be dismissed [in full/except to the extent stated in paragraph 8], that the registration be maintained [for the goods/services stated], and that costs be awarded as the Registrar considers appropriate.

Verification: I, [name and capacity], verify paragraphs [numbers] from personal knowledge and paragraphs [numbers] from [identified records/information received and believed to be true]. Verified at [place] on [date].
[Signature and address for service]

Check before filing

Do not answer a specific non-use allegation with a bare denial, which gives the Registrar little to weigh against it. State the goods or services, the periods and the kinds of records that will be filed as evidence, and do not claim use for goods that no records cover. Section 48(2) treats only 'permitted use' as use by the proprietor. Under Section 2(1)(r), use by someone who is not a registered user qualifies only if it is with the proprietor's consent in a written agreement and meets the other conditions in that clause, so check the agreement and its dates.

Count the period from receipt of the Registrar's copy. Rule 98 allows a further period of not more than one month in the aggregate and then directs the applicant for rectification to file evidence, so do not rely on a late counterstatement being accepted. The pleaded use must later be proved by affidavit evidence under the evidence rules that Rule 98 applies. If the matter is before the High Court, or has been referred there under Section 125, follow that court's rules and directions instead. If some goods are genuinely unused, consider limiting the contest rather than defending the whole specification.

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: Sections 47 and 57, as amended by the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021
Trade Marks Act, 1999: Sections 2(1)(r), 48(2), 55(1) and 56(1) (permitted, equivalent and export use)
Trade Marks Act, 1999: Section 125, as amended by the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021
Trade Marks Rules, 2017: Rules 97 and 98 (service of the application; counterstatement on Form TM-O)
Trade Marks Rules, 2017: Rule 45(1) and Rules 46 to 51, as applied by Rule 98

Trade Marks Act, 1999 — India Code
Trade Marks Rules, 2017 — IP India

Counterstatement to a rectification or non-use removal application