While applying for the registration of a trademark, it is mandatory to mention the class under which the respective product or service the trademark deals with. Often, a number of products or services may be offered under the same trade name. Under such circumstances a single multiclass trademark application can be filed for all the classes put together.
Multiclass Trademark Registration – A trademark is the most vital asset of a business venture. It is the face with which the customers identify the business. The trademark carries the goodwill of the business and enables the customers to distinguish the respective products or services amongst millions of others in the market. It creates the first impression about the business in the minds of the customer, also it tells what to expect out of the products and services under the respective trade name.
The procedure of online trademark registration is governed by the Trademarks Act, 1999 and the Trademark rules 2017. The trademark rules highlight the classification of goods and services for the purpose of registration. It follows the NICE classification put forward by WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). There are Trademark class 45 , out of which 34 are designated for products and 11 are allocated for services. The classification encompasses about 80,000 different products and services under various classes.
Classification
The classification is basically a systematic arrangement of various types of goods and services. For instance, a company dealing with paints would apply for the trademark under trademark class 2 or if a restaurant seeks to trademark its service an application under class 43 would be made. A company might also manufacture products belonging to more than trademark class 1. Say a company “ABC Limited” is manufacturing both chemicals and cleaning products. The company would have to register its trademarks “ABC Limited” under classes1 and 3.
Here separate applications are not needed and a single multiclass trademark application would suffice to register the trademark under two or more classes of goods and services through the Form TM-A. For instance, the trademark ‘TATA’, has been filed under multiple classes. In cases like this, filing a separate application for every single class could consume enormous time and also would be monotonous to do it repeatedly. Hence employing a multiclass trademark application in this scenario could be a wise idea.
Using the free Trademark Search provided by Vakilsearch, you can determine whether a trademark is accessible before beginning the registration process.
Registration through a Multiclass Trademark Application
The process for filing a multiclass trademark application is similar to the process of filing an application under a single class. It has the following prerequisites to duly comply:
Trademark Search
Before proceeding with the trademark application, it is always advisable to carry on a trademark search. Here, since the application is being filed under multiple classes, a search has to be conducted by the applicant under all the relevant classes. It has to be thoroughly verified, if a similar trademark exists under every single class the applicant is intending to trademark the brand name.
If a similar trade name should exist in just one of the classes, and not in the others, there would be a rejection raised for that respective class which might eventually result in getting the application rejected under all the classes the application was made for. Therefore, an exhaustive search must be made by the applicant while applying for multiple classes in a single go and must ensure there are no similar trademarks in any of the classes the application is sought for.
Trademark Application
A single application can be filed for registering the trademark under multiple classes through the Form TM-A in the official website for the Intellectual Property Registration: https://ipindia.gov.in/trade-marks.htm in India. All the appropriate classes under which the applicant seeks a trademark registration must be mentioned in the application. The application can be made through online filing.
Examination of the Trademark Application
Once the application is filed by the applicant, the examiner takes it up for examination. The application should comply with the norms dictated by the Trademarks Act, 1999. If there should be any disparities, the same is raised to the applicant. Once the applicant fixes the issues, the examiner publishes the application in the trademark journal.
Trademark Opposition
Once the publication is done in the trademark journal, an opposition can be raised by third parties under any of the mentioned classes or under all the classes together. Unfortunately, even if the opposition is raised under a single class only, the entire process of registration comes to a standstill.
The Registrar of Trademarks (Registrar) goes ahead with the hearing procedure for the opposition raised under the respective classes. The Registrar hears out the contention of the applicant and the party who raised the opposition and decides the case based on the merits.
In case the application is not opposed within the stipulated period of three months, the Registrar awards the Certificate of Registration.
Certificate of Registration
If there are no oppositions for the trademark application, or if the opposition is dismissed by the Registrar, or the applicant substantiates the application satisfactorily with the respect to the opposition raised, the Registrar issues the Certificate of Registration for all of the relevant classes of the trademark the application was made for.
Merits and Demerits of Multiclass Trademark Registration
The multiclass trademark application exhibits the following merits and demerits.
Merits
Single Trademark Application
The most obvious advantage of a multiclass trademark application is that with a single application multiple classes can be covered. This could not only be time-saving but also could rescue the applicant from the monotony of doing the same job over and over again. This could in turn speed up the registration process for multiple classes.
Effortless Filing Procedure
Filing an application in a single go would be umpteen times easier than filing applications
under every single class separately. A multiclass application makes the filing process much more bearable.
Trademark Renewal
During the renewal of the trademark, a single application can simultaneously be processed for
all the applicable classes in the case of a multiclass application. A single multiclass application
will be filed for renewing the trademark, mentioning all the classes for which the trademark is
to be renewed. The Registrar will renew the application under the applied classes after
reviewing the application.
Multiclass Trademark Registration: Demerits
Fee for Trademark Registration
Regardless of whether the application is a single application made separately for each class, or a multiclass application made with all the classes mentioned, the official fee to be paid is the same. The applicant is required to pay the fee for every single class under which the trademark is to be filed.
Objections Raised to the Application
The major apprehension in filing a multiclass application is that, if there should be an opposition raised with respect to a single class, the entire application would be held up. Nevertheless, the applicant is free to file a divisional application in such a case to isolate the class for which the objection is raised thereby separating the rest of the application.
The registration will be granted for the other classes and a hearing would be scheduled for the specific class under which the opposition was raised. It is pertinent to note that filing the divisional application would also require a fee to be deposited and once again the entire process is quite a time consuming and circuitous.
Operation of Trademark Under Each Class
Once a trademark is registered under a specific class, it is mandatory that it is operational. In the case of a multiclass application, it is essential that the applicant continues to keep the trademark active under all the classes of goods and services for which the application was registered in the first place. Keeping it functional under one class and dormant under another will result in the registration being cancelled under that respective class.
Although the multiclass trademark registration does not exhibit fee concessions or wide benefits, as against filing the trademarks separately in a single application, when the applicant has done an exhaustive trademark search before the registration, filing a multiclass application could save a lot of time during the registration and thereafter during the renewal of the trademark registration.
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