Trademark Renewal in India: Form TM-R Fees, the 6-Month Grace Period and Restoring a Removed Mark

A registered trademark in India lasts ten years. Then it needs renewing, or it goes away. The form is TM-R, the fee starts at ₹9,000 per class, and the whole job is smaller than the first registration was. What trips owners up is not the form. It is the calendar.

Short answer: File Form TM-R from one year before expiry and pay ₹9,000 per class for another ten years. Miss the date and you get six months of grace at ₹13,500 per class. Miss that too and restoration with renewal costs ₹18,000 per class up to one year after expiry. After one year, only a fresh application remains.

What trademark renewal actually is

Renewal extends your existing registration for another ten years. Section 25 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 sets the ten-year term, and the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 put the process on Form TM-R. You can renew as many times as you like.

Two things surprise first-time renewers. First, the ten years run from the filing date shown on your certificate, not from the day the certificate reached you. A mark that took two years to register has eight years left when the certificate arrives. Second, renewal is not a re-examination. Nobody re-checks whether your mark is distinctive, and nobody publishes it for opposition again.

Think of it like a passport. Renew on time and you keep the same document and standing. Let it lapse past the point of no return and you start again with a new issue date — and anyone who applied while you were away now stands ahead of you. That original filing date is the thing you are really protecting.

When can you file Form TM-R?

The renewal window opens one year before expiry. File inside that year and you pay the plain renewal fee. There is no advantage in waiting until the last week — a portal glitch on the final day is exactly how a routine filing becomes a grace-period filing.

Find your date on the certificate itself, or on the IP India public search against your registration number. Do not wait for the Registrar's notice. The Act requires the Registrar to send one before expiry, but it goes to the address for service on record — often the agent who filed the mark years ago, at an address you may have left. Plenty of owners never see it. Keep your own diary date.

What does trademark renewal cost?

Fees come from the First Schedule to the Trade Marks Rules, 2017, and they are charged per class. A mark registered in three classes pays three times. There is no startup or MSME discount on renewal — that concession applies to the first filing, not to keeping the mark alive.

A worked example keeps the maths honest. Say your mark covers two classes and you file on time: 2 × ₹9,000 = ₹18,000 in government fees. Slip into the grace period and it becomes 2 × ₹13,500 = ₹27,000. Need restoration and it is 2 × ₹18,000 = ₹36,000. Same mark, same form, double the bill — the only thing that changed was the date.

The ₹22,500 figure you will see online — and why it is wrong

Some guides quote ₹22,500 per class for restoration. That number stacks all three charges: renewal ₹9,000, surcharge ₹4,500, restoration ₹9,000. The First Schedule does not price it that way. Its restoration entry reads ₹9,000 plus the renewal fee — ₹18,000 in total for online filing. The surcharge belongs to the grace-period entry, not to restoration. If a quote or a portal screen shows you ₹22,500, ask which schedule entry it is charging under before you pay. You may be paying a surcharge the schedule never asked for.

What happens at each stage after expiry

Within 6 months after expiry: the grace period

Section 25(3) lets you renew late by paying the surcharge. File Form TM-R, pay ₹13,500 per class online, and the mark stays yours. Protection is treated as continuous once the late renewal goes through. This is the cheapest mistake you can make, and the easiest to fix.

After 6 months: the mark is removed

If nothing is filed in the grace period, the Registrar removes the mark from the Register. It is no longer an enforceable trademark, and you should stop using the ® symbol with it — that symbol belongs to a live registration.

Between 6 months and 1 year after expiry: restoration

Section 25(4) lets you apply for restoration with renewal on the same Form TM-R. Restoration is not automatic. The Registrar has discretion, and must weigh the interests of other people who may be affected — someone who applied for a similar mark while yours was off the Register, for instance. A restoration that is granted is advertised in the Trade Marks Journal, and the mark is renewed for a further ten years.

After 1 year: only a fresh application

Past one year from expiry, there is no restoration route left. Your only path is a new application, with a new filing date, fresh examination, and publication for opposition. Anyone who filed a similar mark during your gap is ahead of you. That is the real cost of the final deadline — not the fee, but the lost priority.

How to file the renewal, step by step

First, confirm the registration number, the classes, and the expiry date from your certificate or the IP India search. Second, check that the proprietor name and address for service are current — if the business moved or changed hands, sort that first (an assignment goes on Form TM-P, not TM-R). Third, file Form TM-R online, one filing per class, and pay the fee for the window you are in. Fourth, keep the acknowledgement and receipt, and watch the status until it shows renewed.

For a costed plan across your whole portfolio, run the numbers through a compliance fee calculator before you file. And if you are weighing what the mark is worth protecting, the original trademark registration guide covers classes and costs from the start.

What renewal does not do

Renewal keeps your mark exactly as registered. It does not let you change the logo. If the brand has been redesigned, the new version needs its own application — a point owners revisit often, which is why the word mark vs logo mark choice matters long after the first filing. Renewal also does not transfer ownership. Sell the business without recording the assignment and the renewal still belongs, on paper, to the old owner.

Renewal also needs no proof that you still use the mark. That is a separate question. A third party can apply to cancel a mark for non-use after five years under Section 47, whether you renewed it or not. Renewal keeps the registration alive; use keeps it defensible.

Five mistakes that cost owners their mark

One, trusting the Registrar's notice instead of your own diary. Two, reading the expiry date off the certificate's issue date instead of its filing date. Three, renewing only one class of a multi-class mark and assuming the rest followed. Four, paying a quoted ₹22,500 restoration fee without checking the schedule entry. Five, changing the logo at renewal time, so the renewed mark protects the old design while the market sees the new one.

None of these needs a lawyer to avoid. All of them need a date in a diary and ten minutes on the portal, a year before expiry.

Frequently asked questions

Do I get a new certificate after renewal? The Registry updates the online status and issues a renewal confirmation you can download. The registration number stays the same.

Can I renew only some of my classes? Yes. Renewal is per class, so you can renew the classes you still use and let the rest lapse. Just do it deliberately — an unrenewed class is gone after the grace period, and restoring it later costs the full restoration fee.

What if the owner died or the company changed its name before renewal? Update the Register first. A transmission to legal heirs, or a name change, must be recorded before renewal is filed in the new name.

Does renewal protect me against a non-use cancellation? No. Section 47 lets a third party seek cancellation of a mark unused for five years, even one duly renewed. Keep invoices, packaging and advertising that show the mark in use.

Should I update my address for service before filing? Yes, if it has changed. The address for service is where Registry notices go, and an outdated one is how owners miss the expiry notice.

If your certificate's tenth year is coming up, check the date this week. The cheapest renewal you will ever file is the one you file on time. If the date has already passed, count the months: six months of grace, then restoration up to a year.