Trademarks · Renewals
Trademark renewals in India: the one-year window most owners don't use
Published
Under the Trade Marks Rules, 2017, a registration can be renewed up to one year before it expires — yet most owners wait until the reminder arrives, or later. Here is how the windows actually work.
An Indian trademark registration runs for ten years from the date of application and can be renewed indefinitely, ten years at a time. Rule 57 of the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 allows the renewal request (Form TM-R) to be filed up to one year before expiry — a window that lets you renew on your own schedule rather than against a deadline.
If the date passes, all is not immediately lost: renewal with a surcharge remains possible for six months after expiry. After that, the mark can be removed from the register, and getting it back means restoration proceedings — discretionary, slower, and with a gap in protection that a competitor could exploit.
The practical takeaway for any portfolio: know every mark's application date, put the ten-year anniversaries in a tracked calendar with reminders well in advance, and treat the surcharge window as an emergency exit, not a plan. Our free IP Renewal & Deadline Tracker builds exactly that timeline, with a calendar file you can import.
Dates and consequences for a specific registration should always be confirmed against the register entry itself before you rely on them.
IP Saarthi provides general educational information and self-help tools. Outputs depend on the information entered and may not reflect every fact, law, rule, deadline, fee, classification, or exception relevant to a matter. They are not legal advice, an official search, a filing, a registration, or a guarantee of protection. Verify important decisions using current official records and qualified professional advice.