Jurisdiction of Trademark Registration in India

Trademark consists of all marks, including words, symbol, colour combinations, label, logo, device, or numerical, graphically represented to represent a particular service or goods that can be registered as a trademark in India. The Trade Marks Act, 1999 is the present legislation applicable in India which is dealing with trademarks in India. 

For registering a trademark, it is crucial to know the jurisdiction of Trademark Registration. The appropriate office is the place considered as the place for the Registration of Trade Marks and is also for filing any document. In this article, we shall know about the jurisdiction of trademark registration in India.

What is the Jurisdiction of Trademark Registration?

Jurisdiction of trademark is the office within the territorial jurisdiction where the applicant’s principal place of business in India is situated. The jurisdiction for trademark filing application is referred to as the ‘appropriate office’. There are total five offices of the Trade Marks Registry with each having jurisdiction over certain states. 

There are five trademarks registry offices with each having jurisdiction over these particular states. The five main trademark registry offices are:  

Trade Marks Registry, Mumbai (Head Office)

Jurisdiction of Trademark: Maharashtra, Goa and Madhya Pradesh.

Trade Marks Registry, Delhi

Jurisdiction of Trademark: Union Territory of Delhi and Chandigarh

And the states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh.

Trade Marks Registry, Kolkata

Jurisdiction of Trademark: The states of West Bengal, Orissa, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Assam, Bihar, Meghalaya, Sikkim , Tripura and Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Island and Nagaland 

Trade Marks Registry, Ahmedabad

Jurisdiction of Trademark: The states of Gujarat and Rajasthan and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, 

Trade Marks Registry, Chennai

Jurisdiction of Trademark: The states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Union Territory of Lakshadweep Island and Pondicherry.

The appropriate office is supremely the Trademark Registry for the purpose of filing an application for the specific business within whose boundaries the business is to take place.

Jurisdiction of Trademark Registration in India

• With reference to the principle place of business, if there is no entry in the register of a proprietor then the place given in the address for the purpose of service in India that shall be mentioned in the register shall be considered as the principle place.
• If the proprietors are registered jointly- then the business owner whose name is entered early in the register, his place shall be considered the principle place of such business in India. 
• If neither of the joint proprietors is having their principle place of business located in India- 

If the joint proprietors have an address for service in India, then such place shall be mentioned in the register and that place should act as the principle place of business in India.

• If the registered proprietor or joint proprietors of the trademark have no principle place of business located in India and also they do not have any service address situated in India as entered in the register-

In such a case, the place of office of the Trademarks Registry will be the place where the registration application for the trademark is made and that shall be deemed the location of principle place of business.

Can the principle place of business be changed?

No, we cannot change the principle place of business in India and we also cannot change the address for service in India:

• The registered proprietor or the jointly registered proprietors who are related to any trademark that is entered on a notified date in the trademark register shall be permanently in effect since then.

• If any application or any of the joint applications for the trademark registration – either it is pending or is applied on the place of business, cannot be changed after the filing of an application.

Where a trademark application gets registered?

The trademark application will be sufficient to prove the place of jurisdiction from where the business’s address lies and where the sole operation of the service is being done. Furthermore, in case where the applicants have made a joint application, it will be deemed that the principle place shall be the sole address of the place from where the filling of the trademark application is done. 

In cases, the applicant or any applicants jointly has not entered the business principle place then in such a case the location that shall be considered shall be the location from where the same application has been sent to the Registry.

The application of registration of Trademark will be done by addressing to the Appropriate Office. For filing a trademark application, the jurisdiction of trademark registration is called the ‘Appropriate Office’, which is preferably known as the Trademark Registry.

Conclusion

The jurisdiction of the application is very significant as it will have an impact on dealing with the suit of trademark or on hearings of the suit or opposition. The Controller General of Patents, the Designs and Trademarks is the concerned authority for trademark authority, which is managing and administering the functions of the offices of the Trade Marks Registry^[1]. Hence, it is necessary to check the correct jurisdiction place before applying for trademark registration.

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