trademark public search

acsguwahati — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 13:18:40 +0600

PUBLIC SEARCH OF TRADEMARK INDIA

Public searchof trademark Indiais an important step in theprocessof adopting or registering a trademark.This search confirms whether the name orlogois similar to aregistered trademark.

A trademark Attorneyor agent usually searches with the Trademark office to find out if anyone has already registered identical trademarks. Such a search is conducted before filing thetrademark application.

Generally,Trademark officedo not charge anything for public search, butAttorneyor Agent may charge, thefeesis betweenRs 0 and Rs 500.

MEANING OF TRADEMARK PUBLIC SEARCH

A trademark public search is an important phase in the trademark adoption orregistration process. Businesses and individuals may avoid costly legal conflicts and verify that their brand name is unique by doing a search.

A trademark public search is conducted in the IndianTrademark Registry database. The search examines if a proposed trademark can be used in conjunction with certain goods or services. Similar word marks and phonetically similar names in a certain class can be thoroughly explored in trademark public search India.

IMPORTANCE OF TRADEMARK PUBLIC SEARCH

The first and foremost prerequisite before filing a trademark for registration is its public search inIntellectual Property portal. The steps basically involves analyzing local and international databases to identify any similar or identical marks that could pose a challenge to the proposed mark. Salient features of trademark public search are:

Trademark public search would avoid theinfringementof already registered trademark.
Availability is an important criteria while deciding on a trademark that will avoid any duplication.
It is important that the proposed trademark is not only unique but have proper trademark classification.
Every potential conflict can be avoided by conducting a thorough and meticulous trademark public search.

CLASSIFICATION OF TRADEMARK CLASS

According to theNICE classificationof trademarks, which is an international classification of goods and services, there are 45 classes which are divided as 1 to 35 for goods and 36 to 45 for services. For e.g. Tea falls in Class 30, Cement & Plywood in Class 19, Jewelry, watches in Class 14,Medical, surgical instruments in Class 10,Pharmaceutical, fungicides, herbicides; veterinary and sanitary preparations; food for babies; disinfectants; dietetic in Class 5,Soaps, cosmetics, toiletries in Class 3. Likewise advertising falls in Class and construction falls in Class 37,Hotel, restaurant services in Class 43,Medical, beauty services in Class 44,Class 45 deals withlegaland security services. Trademark classification list is given on IP India website:ipindia.gov.in(Trademark ?Classification of goods & services). Before a trademark public search is done, a trademarkclass searchwould be necessary in order to determine in which class the product belongs to. A product may appear to belong to one or two trademark classes at times. In such cases, the applicant might choose the most acceptable class or even all suitable classes based on the description of the products or services.

HOW TO CONDUCT TRADEMARK SEARCH IN INDIA

First of all log in to official website of trademark registration in india https://ipindiaonline.gov.in.

Next click on the trademarks tab and then click on public search.

There are 3 trademark search available- Wordmark, Vienna code and Phonetic.

On selection of each criteria, the keywords fields change as mentioned below.

Trademark Search Type	Criteria to be followed
Word mark	Enter word name, class & goods description and click search button
Phonetic	Enter name, class & goods description and click search button
Vienna code	Enter Vienna code and class and click search button
The result panel will show the list of trademarks that are registered/objected/abandoned/removed/withdrawn, which will help to know the viability of the trademark to be applied.

Word mark Search-During the time of this public search three things to be taken care of and they are- choosing thewordmarkoption, entering the word name and then class. It is to be remembered that same word mark will appear for that class only. For Search in other classes, class details has to be entered every time.

Phonetic search-Phonetic public search helps when trademarks use the same pronunciation.Similar-sounding trademarks can create confusion, and one can usephonetic searchfor these. Therefore, you can follow the same step mentioned above for the phonetic search of the trademark.

Vienna code search-This type of public search is performed to find a similar device mark. The trademark office provides a Vienna code for the trademark applicant having such mark. While doing a Vienna code search, one must enter the Vienna code followed by the class of the goods or service.

THE LINK FOR TRADEMARK PUBLIC SEARCH IN INDIA IS:-

Go to IP India website:ipindia.gov.in
Select Trademark and click related links
On related links clickPublic search
On clicking public search, you are directed to external website, where you have to click, yes.
On clicking yes, a new page will open, where you need to select wordmark or phonetic in Search type.
In the next step, enter the name of trademark you desire to conduct search in the first box. In the second box, you are required to enter the class (only one class at a time) as per the goods or services.
In the end, click search and immediately all the trademark which are similar or deceptively similar to the search mark will appear with all the details like applicant name, company name, type of mark, class, goods description, status of the mark, date of application etc. which will help to analyze the proposed mark.
The trademark public search results will provide information on trademarks that are already registered or pending in India that are similar to the one being searched for. However online search sometimes may not be foolproof and so it is always safe to consult a trademarkattorneyor agent to conduct a comprehensive trademark public search.
The comprehensive trademark public search covers all relevant sources of trademark conflicts. A comprehensive trademark public search includes searches from different sources like trade directories, social media platforms, online marketplace and other useful databases. It includes searching not only for identical trademarks but also for trademarks which are deceptively similar to the trademark to be applied for. During the time of examination, the trademark registry considers similar trademarks when determining whether to register a trademark. A comprehensive search is required as it raises the alarm in case of conflicts before atrademark applicationis filed.

UTILITY OF TRADEMARK SEARCH RESULTS

Once the trademark search is completed, the next step is to analyze the search results to determine whether the proposed trademark is likely to be registered or not.

If the trademark public search results indicate that the mark to be applied is likely to conflict with any existing trademark, it is better to alter or abandon the mark to remain safe. On the other hand, if the trademark public search results indicate that the mark to be applied is unique and not infringing any other existing mark then it is safe to file an application for registration of trademark. Basically trademark public search is the very first step in trademark registration filing and skipping this step can create difficulties for any new application.

CONCLUSION

It is imperative to do a trademark public search before the registration of the trademark. If all the boxes are ticked beforehand, the registration process will be smooth and easy. By taking the time to do things the correct way from the start, you may prevent difficulties and legal issues down the line.

Feel free to reach out to us atAgarwal Consultancy Services for all yourtrademark registration-related queries and assistance!

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