TL;DR: A registered trademark in India lasts ten years and can be renewed indefinitely in further ten-year terms under Section 25 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, by filing Form TM-R. You can file the renewal up to a year before expiry, and there is a six-month grace period after expiry (with a surcharge). Miss that, and the mark is removed, though it can still be restored between six and twelve months after expiry, at higher cost and with no guarantee. The single most important thing to understand is that none of the later, riskier stages are necessary if you simply renew early. Filing early costs the same as filing on time and removes every downstream risk.
Quick overview: This guide answers what trademark renewal costs in India (₹9,000 per class on time, more if late), the deadlines that matter, the six-month grace period, what happens if your mark is removed, and how restoration works between six and twelve months after expiry. It covers the fee structure in full and makes the practical case for renewing early rather than at the deadline.
A trademark registration is not permanent, but it can effectively last forever, if you keep renewing it. The catch is that renewal is one of the easiest things for a busy business to forget, because the deadline arrives a full decade after the last time anyone thought about it. By then the person who filed the original application may have left, the reminder emails may be going to a defunct inbox, and the ten-year clock runs out quietly. That is how businesses lose trademarks they spent years building, not through any dispute, but through a missed date.
This guide explains how renewal works, what the deadlines are, and why the safest approach by far is to renew early.
How Long Does a Trademark Last in India?
A registered trademark in India is valid for ten years, and can be renewed for further ten-year terms indefinitely, under Section 25 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. There is no limit on the number of renewals, so a properly maintained trademark can remain protected for as long as the business exists.
One point causes genuine confusion and is worth getting right: the ten-year term. Section 25(1) sets a ten-year duration, and each renewal extends protection by another ten years from the previous expiry. The date your renewal is measured from is the one on your registration, so the practical rule is simple: know your mark’s expiry date precisely, because everything in this guide is measured from it. If you are unsure of your exact date, check your registration certificate or the Trade Marks Registry record before doing anything else, since every deadline that follows depends on it.
The Renewal Deadlines That Actually Matter
There are really four points on the timeline, and understanding them is the whole of renewal strategy.
Up to one year before expiry: the early window opens. Under the Trade Marks Rules, 2017, you can file your renewal on Form TM-R as early as a year before the expiry date. Crucially, filing early costs exactly the same as filing on time. There is no premium for being organised, which is the single strongest argument for doing it.
Before expiry: on-time renewal. File Form TM-R and pay the per-class renewal fee before the expiry date, and your registration is simply extended for another ten years. Clean, cheapest, no complications.
Up to six months after expiry: the grace period. If you miss the expiry date, there is a six-month grace period during which you can still renew, but now you pay the renewal fee plus a surcharge. The mark is still yours during this window, but you are paying extra for the delay.
Six to twelve months after expiry: restoration only. Once the grace period closes, the mark is liable to be removed from the Register. Between six and twelve months after expiry, your only route back is restoration under Section 25(4), which is more expensive, more involved, and, importantly, not guaranteed. After twelve months, the mark is gone, and your only option is to file a fresh application from scratch, losing your original priority date entirely.
The Practical Heart of It: Renew Early
Here is the practical takeaway that matters more than any fee table. Every risk in the renewal process, the surcharge, the removal, the uncertain restoration, the total loss, exists only because renewal was left late. All of it disappears if you renew in the early window.
Think about what the early window actually offers. You can file a full year before expiry. Filing early costs the same as filing on time. Filing early gives the Registry ample time to process the renewal without any last-minute pressure. And filing early removes, in one action, every downstream risk: no surcharge, no grace-period anxiety, no removal, no restoration gamble, no chance of losing the mark. There is, quite literally, no financial or legal downside to renewing early, and every downside to renewing late.
The reason businesses still leave it late is not cost, it is attention. A ten-year cycle is long enough that the deadline falls off everyone’s radar. The fix is to treat renewal as something you diarise the day the mark is registered, and ideally to have it monitored for you, which is exactly what a trademark watch arrangement can include, so a decade-away deadline never quietly slips past. For a multi-class registration, this matters even more, because each class is renewed and paid for separately, and it is easy to renew some classes while accidentally letting one lapse.
What Trademark Renewal Costs in India
The fee structure makes the “renew early” case better than any argument can, because the cost rises sharply the longer you wait. All figures are government fees for e-filing, per class, under the First Schedule of the Trade Marks Rules, 2017.
An on-time renewal, filed any time in the year before expiry or before the expiry date itself, costs ₹9,000 per class. Renewing late, within the six-month grace period after expiry, costs ₹13,500 per class, the ₹9,000 base fee plus a ₹4,500 surcharge, effectively a 50% penalty for lateness. Restoration of a removed mark, between six and twelve months after expiry, costs ₹18,000 per class, the ₹9,000 renewal fee plus a ₹9,000 restoration fee. Physical filing is slightly higher than e-filing at each tier.
The pattern is the whole point: ₹9,000 on time, ₹13,500 late, ₹18,000 to restore, doubling from the cheapest to the most expensive route, before you even count professional fees. And because every figure is per class, the gap widens fast for multi-class marks. A three-class registration renewed on time costs ₹27,000; the same three-class mark restored after removal costs ₹54,000. That ₹27,000 difference is, quite simply, the price of not diarising a date. (Government fees are set by the Rules and can change by amendment, so confirm the current figure before filing.)
What the Renewal Actually Involves
The renewal itself is straightforward. It is filed on Form TM-R through the IP India online portal, using the trademark’s registration number and the proprietor’s details, with the per-class fee paid at filing. It can be filed by the registered proprietor or an authorised agent.
Two housekeeping points catch people out. First, if ownership or the proprietor’s name has changed since registration, that change should be properly recorded with the Registry before renewal, otherwise the mismatch can trigger an objection. Second, because fees and forms are per class, a multi-class mark needs each class renewed and paid for, get this right so no class is left behind.
What Restoration Is, and Why It’s a Rescue, Not a Plan
If a mark is removed after the grace period, restoration under Section 25(4) is the mechanism to bring it back, available between six and twelve months after the expiry date. It is worth understanding honestly, because it is often misunderstood as a safety net you can rely on.
When you apply to restore a removed mark, you pay the renewal fee, the surcharge, and an additional restoration fee on top, so it is the most expensive route by a clear margin. More importantly, restoration is not automatic. The Registrar advertises the restoration request, and the outcome is discretionary, taking into account the interests of others and whether anyone objects. In the period while your mark sits removed, a third party can file for the same mark in the same class, and you have no automatic right of first refusal. Restoration is a genuine rescue mechanism, and it does save marks, but it is a rescue, not a renewal strategy. Relying on it means paying more, waiting longer, and accepting a real risk that you may not get your mark back at all. Every one of those downsides is avoided by simply renewing in time.
What Happens If You Miss Everything
If twelve months pass after expiry with no renewal and no restoration, the trademark is permanently removed from the Register. At that point the consequences are serious. You lose the registration and the statutory rights that came with it. You lose your original priority date, which can be years or decades of seniority. And if you want the mark back, you must file a completely fresh application, starting the whole registration process again, with no guarantee that the landscape is still clear, someone else may have registered something conflicting in the intervening period.
This is the outcome the entire guide is built to help you avoid, and it is worth being blunt: it is almost always avoidable. A permanently lost trademark is rarely lost to a legal battle. It is lost to a calendar.
Conclusion
Trademark renewal in India is simple in mechanics and unforgiving in timing. Three things are worth carrying away. First, know your exact expiry date, because every deadline flows from it. Second, renew early, in the window that opens a year before expiry, because it costs the same as on-time renewal and eliminates every downstream risk, the surcharge, removal, the uncertain restoration, and permanent loss. Third, treat restoration as a rescue of last resort, not a plan, because it is costly, discretionary, and leaves your mark exposed while it is pending. The businesses that never lose a trademark to lapse are simply the ones that diarised the date and acted early.
If you are protecting a brand in India and want your registration secured and its renewals tracked so a deadline never slips, we can help. See our trademark registration in India service, and if you are still building your brand’s protection, our guides on how to register your trademark in India and what to do after filing cover the earlier stages.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a trademark registration last in India?
A registered trademark in India is valid for ten years under Section 25 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, and can be renewed for further ten-year terms without any limit, so a well-maintained trademark can last indefinitely. Each renewal extends protection by another ten years from the previous expiry date. Because the term is a full decade, knowing your precise expiry date and diarising it well in advance is essential.
When can I renew my trademark in India?
You can file your renewal on Form TM-R as early as one year before the expiry date, and this is the best time to do it, because filing early costs the same as filing on time and removes every later risk. If you miss the expiry date, a six-month grace period follows during which you can still renew by paying the standard fee plus a surcharge. After that, only restoration is available, between six and twelve months after expiry.
What is the grace period for trademark renewal in India?
The grace period is six months from the date of expiry. During this window, you can still renew your trademark by filing Form TM-R and paying the standard renewal fee together with an additional surcharge per class. The mark remains yours during the grace period. Once the six months pass, the mark becomes liable for removal from the Register, and your only remaining option is restoration.
Can a removed trademark be restored in India?
Yes, but with conditions. Under Section 25(4) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, a removed mark can be restored between six and twelve months after the expiry date by filing the renewal fee, the surcharge, and an additional restoration fee. Restoration is discretionary, not automatic, the Registrar advertises the request and considers objections, and while the mark is removed a third party could apply for the same mark. It is a genuine rescue mechanism but not something to rely on instead of renewing on time.
What happens if I don’t renew my trademark within twelve months of expiry?
If twelve months pass after expiry with neither renewal nor restoration, the trademark is permanently removed from the Register. You lose the registration and its statutory rights, and you lose your original priority date. To get the mark back, you must file an entirely fresh application, starting the registration process again from scratch, with no guarantee the mark is still available, since someone else may have registered a conflicting mark in the meantime.
Are trademark renewal fees charged per class?
Yes. Renewal fees in India are charged separately for each class in which the trademark is registered. A mark registered across three classes requires the renewal fee to be paid three times, once per class, whether the renewal is on time, late within the grace period, or a restoration. This is a common source of accidental lapses, where a proprietor renews some classes but overlooks one, so a multi-class renewal needs particular care to ensure no class is left behind.
Written by Prakhar Rai
Prakhar Rai is the founder of My Legal Pal and a licensed attorney enrolled with the Bar Council of India. He started the practice after watching businesses that operate across borders get legal advice in fragments: a clause here, a reaction to a problem there, with no one looking at the whole picture or thinking a few steps ahead. With more than a decade in business and corporate advisory, he came to a simple view. As companies started running on cross-border deals, digital platforms and overlapping regulation, they needed legal strategy built around how they actually work, not just documents drafted after the fact. My Legal Pal is built on that idea: foresight and clarity first, paperwork second. He studied at La Martiniere College, holds an LL.B, and earned a Master of Business Laws from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, specialising in corporate, banking, intellectual property, finance and securities law. That mix of academic grounding and hands-on advisory work shapes how he and the team approach every matter: commercially, not just technically.
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This article is published for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice. Trademark fees, forms, and procedures are set by the Trade Marks Rules and are subject to change. Always confirm current requirements and consult a qualified trademark attorney for advice specific to your registration.
