What Does 'Marked for Exam' (Under Examination) Mean in Trademark Status?
Short answer: "Marked for Exam" is good news — it means your trademark application has cleared the initial Formalities Check and is now sitting in the queue to be reviewed by a Trademark Examiner on its legal merits. There's nothing for you to do at this stage except wait.
What "Marked for Exam" Actually Means
Every application first goes through a Formalities Check — confirming the form, applicant details, and fee are all in order. Once that's cleared, the status updates to "Marked for Exam," meaning the file has been assigned into the examiner's queue for substantive review under the Trade Marks Act, 1999.
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Marked for Exam, Under Examination and Ready for Examination
You may also see this stage described as "Under Examination" or "Ready for Examination", for example in older records, agents' reports or status-tracking tools. They describe the same point in the process: the application has passed the formalities check and is waiting for, or is with, an examiner. Nothing is required from you until the status changes to Exam Report Issued.
What Happens During Examination
An Examiner checks the application on absolute grounds (Section 9 — is the mark generic, descriptive, or otherwise non-distinctive) and relative grounds (Section 11 — does it conflict with an earlier registered or pending mark). At the end of this review, one of two things happens: the mark is accepted for advertisement, or an Examination Report is issued raising objections.
How Long Does This Stage Take?
This is usually the longest single wait in the entire process — commonly a few months, though it varies by class and the Registry's current caseload at the time. The one way to shorten it is to request expedited examination on Form TM-M under Rule 34 of the Trade Marks Rules, 2017. The request can only be filed online, and the government fee is Rs 20,000 per class for an individual, startup or small enterprise, or Rs 40,000 per class for others; the application is then ordinarily examined within three months. Otherwise, check your status on the IP India e-Register every few weeks.
What Happens Next
Your status will change to either:
- Accepted & Advertised — no objections found; see our guide to this status.
- Objected — the examiner has raised a ground you need to answer; see our guide to replying and the case laws that help win these replies.