Trademark Hearing being a judicial process, is also known as ‘Show Cause Hearing’ or ‘TLA Hearing’ of Trademarks. It is nothing but an appearance before the registrar of Trademark, either in person or through Trademark Agent or Trademark Attorney, to remove the objections raised by the review from a report. Issued following the filing of a Trademark Registration application.
In other words, Trademark Objections occur when there is something wrong with the way the application has been filed, with the Trademark itself or for other reasons. While the reply to the application is enough to aid in getting it approved, they are often not helpful. Therefore, the next step is Trademark Hearing.
A trademark hearing is a matter that needs a proper trademark attorney by your side. The right decision of your attorney can lead to your Trademark being accepted.
Therefore, you should look for the best Trademark Attorney. Fortunately, OnlineXBRL can provide you with the concerned legal aid.
Your trademark reply must have been denied by the Trademark Registrar before you can request a Trademark Hearing.
Once the Appropriate authority has received the Trademark Hearing Notice, a draft of the notice should be prepared, including any relevant information that will assist the entity in resolving the objection.
The person or his/her Trademark agent or attorney must appear before the authorities with relevant papers & submissions on the conditions and date mentioned in the hearing notice. There is no specific dress requirement, although it is expected to be formal
Pen down a letter of Trademark opposition to a trademark hearing. Collect all relevant evidence, such as purchase orders, screenshots from websites, vendor invoices, and any other documentation that can help prove one’s position and assist legislation in accepting his/her Trademark.
After the person has presented all of his material to the Trademark Registrar, the Trademark Registrar will evaluate it and go over all of the proof provided by that person or to his attorney, who has provided all of the information surrounding the Trademark in detail.
The Trademark will be accepted if the Trademark Officer is satisfied with the information or will be refused if it is not satisfied. The trademark officer has complete authority to reject or suspend it for a few days if he believes further clarification is required.
Like any other judicial proceedings, adjournment in a trademark hearing can also be done by filing a TM-M form. However, the window to apply for an adjournment is open only two days before the hearing date.
Since 2020, i.e., due to the COVID outbreak, virtual modes of hearing have been made possible, and currently, all Trademark Hearings in India are conducted online, i.e., through video conferencing.
All states and union territories have been classified into 5 zones, i.e., 5 Regional Jurisdictions for filing Trademark Applications which are as follows:
Mumbai : The States of Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
Ahmedabad : The States of Rajasthan and Gujarat and Union Territory of Daman, Diu, Dadra, and Nagar Haveli.
Kolkata : The States of Bihar, Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Mizoram, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Tripura, Jharkhand, and Union Territories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Nagaland.
New Delhi : The States of Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Union Territories of Uttarakhand and Chandigarh.
Chennai : The States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Lakshadweep Island and Union Territories of Pondicherry.
A few errors that one makes while choosing a Trademark result in an objection and ultimately add the show cause hearing in the Process of Trademark Registration.
However, one can avoid the trademark hearing from the beginning by choosing the correct Trademark to register.
Below are a few standards to keep in mind at the time of selecting a Trademark to reduce the risk of getting an objection to the Trademark:
If you or your attorney or agent fails to attend the trademark hearing on the given date, then there can be any of the following consequences :
After the trademark hearing is over, the Hearing Officer passes an order. The order passed can be any of these :
When the Trademark falls under any one of the below categories, an objection can be raised by the Registry :
A sound denoted by a series of musical notes with or without words can be trademarked in India. Sound trademarks are very popular in the US, and their awareness is rising fast in India.
Registration of the Trademark is mandatory in India. An unregistered trademark can also be protected and has certain benefits. When a trademark is not registered, the owner does not have the legal protection against infringement.
It is a hearing to determine whether or not a court-appointed attorney should be removed from a particular case. This happens in cases where the lawyer is deemed not to have given competent or adequate guidance in some way. It is up to the defendant to apply to the court regarding the same.
A trademark registration is good for 10 years and can be extended for another 10 years with each renewal. There may be incidents when a trademark holder fails to renew its Trademark on time. Renewal of an expired trademark is the only option in such cases.
So, Connect with Online XBRL for Trademark Hearing in India.