TL;DR: You can check your trademark application status free on the IP India eRegister portal using your application number. The statuses that matter most: “Objected” is not a rejection, it means the examiner has raised objections you must answer within one month. “Accepted & Advertised” does not mean registered, a four-month opposition window is still open and you cannot use ® yet. “Opposed” starts a strict two-month counter-statement deadline with no extension. And “Abandoned” is what happens when any of these deadlines is missed, which is how most applications actually die. This guide decodes every status on the portal and tells you exactly what to do at each one.
Quick overview: This is an action-led decoder for every trademark status on the IP India portal, from New Application through Formalities, Vienna Codification, Marked for Exam, Objected, Show Cause Hearing, Accepted & Advertised, Opposed, and Registered, to the ones nobody wants: Refused, Abandoned, and Withdrawn. For each status: what it actually means, whether you need to act, and what the action is. Written for anyone refreshing the portal and wondering what the words on the screen are telling them.
After you file a trademark application, the Registry does not call you with updates. It talks to you through a status field on the IP India portal, in terse, jargon-heavy labels that were written for examiners, not applicants. Most applicants check the status regularly and understand almost none of it, which leads to two opposite mistakes: panicking at statuses that are routine, and ignoring statuses that carry hard deadlines.
This guide fixes that. It decodes every status you will see, in roughly the order they appear, and for each one answers the only two questions that matter: what does it mean, and what should I do?
How to check: go to the IP India eRegister portal, select Trade Marks, enter your application number, and the current status displays instantly. It is free, and you can check any application, not just your own, which is also how you monitor competitors’ filings.
The Early Administrative Statuses (Usually No Action Needed)
New Application. Your application has been received and given a number. Nothing to do; this is the starting point. You can begin using the ™ symbol from filing.
Send Back to EDP. The application has been sent for data entry or digitisation. Purely administrative. No action.
Formalities Chk Pass. The Registry has checked the procedural basics, the power of attorney, translations if the mark is not in English or Hindi, correct documentation, and everything is in order. No action; the application moves toward examination.
Formalities Chk Fail. The procedural check found a defect: commonly a missing power of attorney, a missing translation or transliteration, or a filing irregularity. Action needed: find out what failed (the portal’s document view usually shows the deficiency) and cure it promptly. This is a fixable administrative issue, not a judgment on your mark, but ignoring it stalls the application.
Send to Vienna Codification. This one confuses everyone and alarms no small number of applicants. If your mark contains a logo, device, or visual element, the Registry assigns it international Vienna classification codes so the artwork can be searched against similar designs. It is routine, happens to every logo mark, and requires no action. Word-only marks skip this stage.
Marked for Exam. Your application has been assigned to an examiner, who will now assess it under the Act. No action yet, but this is the stage that produces either acceptance or an examination report, so what comes next matters.
Objected: The Most Misread Status on the Portal
If there is one status to understand properly, it is this one. “Objected” is not a refusal. It means the examiner has raised objections in an examination report, almost always under Section 9 (the mark is descriptive or lacks distinctiveness) or Section 11 (it conflicts with an earlier mark), and is inviting your response.
A large share of applications get objected, and a large share of those go on to register after a good reply. The status is the start of an argument, not the end of the application.
Action needed, with a hard deadline: you must file a reply within one month of receiving the examination report, or the application can be treated as abandoned. The right reply depends entirely on which section is cited: a Section 9 objection is answered with evidence that your mark has acquired distinctiveness through use, while a Section 11 objection is answered by distinguishing your mark and goods from the cited earlier mark. Our guide on replying to a trademark objection in India covers the process, and our objection reply service handles the drafting and filing.
Ready for Show Cause Hearing
This status appears when your written reply has not fully satisfied the examiner, and the matter has been listed for a hearing before the Registrar, now commonly held by video conference.
Action needed, and attendance is not optional: prepare your arguments and evidence, and attend (or be represented). If you neither replied nor appear, the application can be abandoned or refused. A hearing is a genuine second chance, many marks are accepted at this stage after a considered oral submission, but only if you show up prepared. Hearing dates are published on the Registry’s cause lists, so once this status appears, watch for your date actively rather than waiting to be chased.
The Advertisement Stage: Two Similar Statuses, One Big Trap
Accepted. The examiner has accepted your mark, either without conditions or subject to conditions, and it now proceeds to advertisement. No action; await publication.
Accepted & Advertised. Your mark has been accepted and published in the Trade Marks Journal. This is good news, and also the stage where applicants most often relax prematurely. Publication opens a four-month opposition window during which any third party can oppose your mark. Two things follow. First, this is not registration, you still cannot use the ® symbol, only ™, until the status says Registered. Second, the four months simply have to pass; there is nothing to file, but there is something to watch.
Advertised bef acc (Advertised before Acceptance). A less common variant: the mark has been published before formal acceptance, which the Registrar does in limited circumstances, sometimes where there is strong evidence of genuine commercial use, sometimes where an administrative query remains to be cleared after the opposition window. The four-month opposition window applies just the same. No action beyond monitoring, but “Accepted & Advertised” is the cleaner of the two statuses to hold.
Opposed: The Status With the Least Forgiving Deadline
If a third party files an opposition during the four-month window, your status changes to Opposed, and the clock that starts now is the strictest in the entire process.
Action needed, urgently: you must file a counter-statement within two months of receiving the notice of opposition, and this deadline has no extension. Miss it, and your application is deemed abandoned, regardless of how strong your mark was. After the counter-statement, the opposition proceeds through structured evidence stages on both sides and then a hearing before the Registrar, effectively a mini-trial inside the Registry.
An opposition is serious but very much survivable with a proper defence. Our guides on trademark opposition in India and exactly what to do when you receive an opposition walk through it, and our opposition service handles the defence end to end.
Registered: The Status You Want (With One Ongoing Duty)
Registered means your trademark has been entered on the Register. You can now use the ® symbol, you hold the exclusive statutory rights, and the registration runs for ten years from your application date.
Action needed: nothing immediate, but two ongoing disciplines. Keep using the mark and keep dated evidence of that use, since an unused registration becomes vulnerable to cancellation, a habit we cover in our guide on what to do after filing your trademark. And diarise the renewal, because the ten-year term ends whether or not anyone reminds you, and marks are lost to missed renewals far more often than to legal defeats.
The Statuses Nobody Wants
Refused. The examiner or hearing officer has rejected the mark after examination or hearing. This is a final decision at Registry level, but not necessarily the end: an appeal lies to the relevant High Court within the prescribed period. Action: take advice quickly on whether an appeal is worth pursuing, since appeal windows are limited.
Abandoned. The silent killer of trademark applications. This status means a deadline was missed, no reply to the examination report, no counter-statement to an opposition, no appearance at a hearing, and the Registry has treated the application as given up. Most applications that die, die here, not on the merits but on the calendar. Action: in limited circumstances, an abandonment can be contested or the application revived, particularly where required notice was not properly given, but prevention is overwhelmingly better than cure. If your status shows Abandoned and you believe a deadline was missed for a good reason, take advice promptly.
Withdrawn. The applicant has voluntarily withdrawn the application. No action; this status only appears because you (or your agent) chose it.
Invalid. The application fee was not received or did not process. Action: rectify the payment issue quickly, or the application goes nowhere.
The Habit That Ties It All Together
Every dangerous status in this guide, Objected, Ready for Hearing, Opposed, shares one feature: a deadline that starts running whether or not you noticed the status change. The Registry does not chase you. So the single most protective habit is simple: check your status regularly, at least fortnightly while the application is live, and treat any status change as a prompt to identify the deadline it starts. Applicants who do this rarely lose applications. Applicants who file and forget are the ones who meet “Abandoned.”
Conclusion
The status field on the IP India portal is the Registry talking to you, and once you can read it, the whole process becomes navigable. Three things are worth carrying away. First, most statuses are routine, Vienna Codification, Formalities, Marked for Exam need nothing from you, so don’t panic at jargon. Second, the dangerous statuses are the ones with clocks: Objected (one month to reply), Opposed (two months, no extension), and Ready for Hearing (attend or lose), and Abandoned is simply what missing those clocks looks like. Third, Accepted & Advertised is not Registered, hold off on the ® until the Register says so.
If your status shows Objected or Opposed and a deadline is running, or you simply want your application watched and every status change acted on properly, we handle exactly this. See our trademark registration in India service to get the support in place.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I check my trademark application status in India?
Go to the IP India eRegister portal, select Trade Marks, and enter your application number. The current status displays instantly and the service is free. You can check any application, not only your own, which also makes the portal useful for monitoring competitors’ filings. While your application is live, it is worth checking at least fortnightly, because several statuses start strict deadlines from the moment they change and the Registry does not notify you personally of every development.
What does “Objected” mean in a trademark status?
“Objected” means the examiner has raised objections to your application in an examination report, usually under Section 9 (the mark is descriptive or lacks distinctiveness) or Section 11 (it conflicts with an earlier mark). It is not a refusal, a large share of objected applications go on to register after a well-drafted reply. You must file your reply within one month of receiving the examination report, and failing to do so can result in the application being treated as abandoned.
What does “Accepted & Advertised” mean, and is my trademark registered?
“Accepted & Advertised” means your mark has cleared examination and been published in the Trade Marks Journal, but it is not yet registered. Publication opens a four-month window during which any third party can file an opposition. Until the status changes to “Registered”, you cannot use the ® symbol, only ™. If no opposition is filed within the four months, the application proceeds toward registration; if one is filed, the status changes to “Opposed” and a strict defence timeline begins.
What should I do if my trademark status shows “Opposed”?
Act immediately, because the deadline here is the strictest in the process: you must file a counter-statement within two months of receiving the notice of opposition, and there is no extension. Missing it means your application is deemed abandoned. After the counter-statement, the opposition proceeds through evidence stages on both sides and a hearing before the Registrar. Oppositions are serious but frequently survivable with a proper defence, so engage with it promptly rather than hoping it resolves itself.
What does “Send to Vienna Codification” mean?
It is a routine administrative step that applies to marks containing a logo, device, or other visual element. The Registry assigns internationally recognised Vienna classification codes to the visual features of your mark so that it can be searched against similar designs. It happens to every logo mark, requires no action from you, and is not a sign of any problem. Word-only marks skip this stage entirely, which is why some applicants see it and others never do.
Why do trademark applications get marked “Abandoned”?
Almost always because a deadline was missed: no reply filed to the examination report within one month, no counter-statement filed within two months of an opposition, or no appearance at a scheduled hearing. Abandonment is how most applications actually fail, on the calendar rather than on the merits. In limited circumstances an abandonment can be contested or an application revived, particularly where required notice was not properly given, but the reliable protection is simply monitoring your status and acting on every deadline as it starts.
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.
Connect with Prakhar on LinkedIn.
This article is published for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice. Registry statuses, timelines, and procedures are subject to change. Always consult a qualified trademark attorney for advice specific to your application.
