Trademark public search in India FAQs – Part 2

by varun · Published January 31, 2021 · Updated December 24, 2021

Continuing with our article on FAQs on trademark public search in India, we present you second part on FAQs related to trademark search in India.

Q – Why trademark public search is important?

A – Trademark search is one of the most important steps in trademark registration. A through trademark search can prevent your brand name being infringed and reduces risk of loosing a brand name due to a inadequate trademark search.

Q – Can you do trademark search on your own?

A – Yes, you can perform trademark public search on your own. You can check our guide on step by step IPIndia trademark search. Though, it is always advised to take help of external professional service providers for trademark public search as it tend to be more professional and less time consuming.

Q – When should you do a TM Search?

A – Ideally, trademark public search should be done before filing a application for a trademark registration. You don’t want your application to be rejected by examiner due to lack of or incomplete trademark search. Moreover, search should also be conducted post registration of trademark also. As this step would make sure that your registered trademark is not being used by someone else.

Q – How to do trademark search?

A – Trademark search can be performed with help of different databases such as IPIndia trademark portal, Ministry of corporate affairs, common law database and Madrid system. You should collect information related to each keyword and formulate a decision matrix to outline chances of your selected trademark getting through examination. For detailed guide on step by step trademark public search and trademark decision matrix, you can visit this link.

Q – What is class in trademark search?

A – A trademark application is made under 45 different classes under NICE classification. Each of the trademark class represents different sets of products and services. While filing a trademark application, the class of goods and services to which the trademark pertain must be mentioned in the application. For a complete guide on trademark class, you can visit tis link on different trademark classes.

Q – Is trademark search for public available?

A – Yes, trademark search for public is available and can be availed by anyone interested in the same.

Q – How can i perform a trademark search for a company name?

A – You can perform trademark search for a company name on official IPIndia public search portal an combining these results with search for registered company’s name on MCA portal.

Q – Is trademark public search legal?

A – Yes, trademark public search is perfectly legal.

Q – How to do trademark search with application number?

A – Trademark public search can be done with following steps-

Step 1 – Login to the official trademark registry

Step 2 – Select National IRDI number

Step 3 – Enter trademark application number

Q – What are the 3 types of trademarks?

A – 3 types of trademarks are Descriptive, merely descriptive and generic trademarks.

Q – Is Logo a trademark?

A – Yes, a logo can be a trademark. A logo is a specific type of trademark that uses design elements other than just words to achieve the trademark’s essential functions of identifying a product’s source and distinguishing it from competing products.

Q – How do i check if a name has been trademarked?

A – You can check if a word has been trademarked by visiting official IPIndia public portal. You need to perform a trademark check for your selected keyword. If a word has already been trademarked then portal would give information about holder of trademark and date of trademark.

Q – What are the different steps to be performed for IPIndia trademark search?

A – Different steps that are to be performed for TM search are –

Visit official portal of IPIndia trademark search
Identify all keywords for IPIndia trademark search
Identification of relevant classes
Execution of wordmark IPIndia trademark search
Execution of phonetic search
Consolidate and evaluate results
Search other databases for trademark search

Q – How to identify keywords or trademark ideas for IPIndia public search?

A – Prepare an exhaustive list of keywords that are similar to keywords that you want a trademark for. For e.g. if your chosen keyword is “Tata” then you can collect similar keywords for IPIndia trdemark search such as “Tataa”, “Taata”, “Tata motors”. “Tata company” etc. It is important to collect as many keywords as possible before you start your trademark search on IPIndia portal.

Q – How to identify relevant trademark class during brand name search?

A – The Indian trademarks have been divided into 45 different categories which are individually known as classes. There are 32 classes for products and 13 classes for different services. You can check out different IPIndia trademark classes to make sure that you are applying in a correct class.

Q – Can a trademark name fall in more than one trademark class?

A – Yes, your brand name can fall in more than one trademark class. Thus, it is always advisable to register your brand name in all relevant classes. It is equally important to search within different trademark classes during brand name search.

Q – Where can i perform trademark class search?

A – You can perform trademark class search on https://bizopedia.in/category-1/trademark-class-search-india/

Q – Can i get trademark class list?

A – Yes, you can get exhaustive trademark list on above link

Q – How to perform IPIndia wordmark search for brand name?

A – There are two different options to perform a wordmark search on IPIndia portal. First one is “Start with” and other is “Contains”. Common steps to be followed with both options on IPIndia portal are –

Selection of “start with” option
Enter keyword and press search button
View search results and generate reports
Print reports for future reference

Q – What do you mean by phonetic search?

A – Phonetic search uses similarly sounding words used for keyword search as its keyword parameter. Interface for phonetic search is quite similar to work mark search.

Q – Which are the other databases for trademark name search?

A – Other databases include Madrid applications designating India, MCA company database, Common law databases