How to Renew a Trademark in India: Form TM-R

A registered trademark in India stays valid for 10 years, and you keep it alive by filing Form TM-R and paying the renewal fee for another 10 years. You can renew any time up to one year before the expiry date. Miss that date and you still get a 6-month grace window to renew with a surcharge, and even after the mark is removed you can restore it up to one year from expiry. This is all set out in Section 25 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

Trademark renewal is really about hitting the right window. The table below shows every stage, when it runs, what you file, and the extra cost you pay for acting late.

The single number to burn into memory is one year. One year before expiry the renewal window opens, and one year after expiry the last door (restoration) closes. Everything in between is a countdown.

Section 25 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 packs the whole life cycle into four short sub-sections:

1. Section 25(1) fixes the registration at 10 years, renewable from time to time. There is no limit on how many times you can renew.
2. Section 25(2) lets you renew for a further 10 years from the date the last registration expired, on paying the prescribed fee.
3. Section 25(3) says that before removing an expired mark, the Registrar must send a reminder notice to the proprietor. This notice is issued in Form O-3. Its proviso also protects a mark from removal if you renew within six months of expiry with the fee and surcharge.
4. Section 25(4) allows restoration and renewal of a removed mark on an application made after six months and within one year of expiry.

The renewal form and windows come from the Trade Marks Rules, 2017. Rule 57 sets Form TM-R and the one-year-before-expiry filing window, and the restoration route sits in the same chapter of the Rules. Because the older 2002 Rules used a six-month pre-expiry window, many online guides still repeat that outdated figure, so trust the one-year window under the current 2017 Rules.

The Form O-3 reminder is not a mere courtesy. High Courts have held in 2024 and 2025 that sending it is a mandatory step, and a mark removed without it can be put back. Even so, never rely on the notice reaching you, as addresses and agents change. Diarise your own expiry date.

Kashvi did the one thing that saves the most money and stress, she renewed early. Filing up to a year ahead costs exactly the same as filing on the last day, so there is no reason to wait.

Missing the expiry date is not the end, but each month that passes costs more and gives you fewer rights. Walk through it in order:

1. You are within 6 months of expiry. Good news, the mark has not been removed yet. File Form TM-R with the renewal fee plus the surcharge. Under the Section 25(3) proviso the Registrar cannot remove your mark in this window if you pay up. This is late renewal, not restoration.
2. You are between 6 months and 1 year past expiry. The mark can now be removed from the Register, so you use restoration under Section 25(4). File Form TM-R with the restoration fee plus the renewal fee. The Registrar has discretion here, so it helps to explain why you missed the date.
3. You are more than 1 year past expiry. There is no revival. The mark is gone and you must file a brand-new trademark application, taking your chances that someone else has not claimed a similar mark in the meantime.

This staged rule is why the difference between month 6 and month 7 matters so much. Cross from grace into restoration and both your cost and your legal risk jump. If your matter has gone deeper, into an abandoned or removed status with a missed hearing, read the guide on restoring an abandoned trademark after a missed hearing.

Renewal fees are set in the First Schedule to the Trade Marks Rules, 2017, and they are charged per class. If your mark is registered in three classes, you pay the fee three times.

1. On-time renewal (Form TM-R): Rs 9,000 per class for e-filing, or Rs 10,000 per class for physical filing.
2. Grace-period renewal (within 6 months of expiry): Rs 13,500 per class for e-filing, that is the renewal fee plus a surcharge of Rs 4,500 per class.
3. Restoration and renewal (6 months to 1 year after expiry): Rs 18,000 per class for e-filing.

Fees are revised from time to time, so confirm the current figure on the official IP India portal at ipindia.gov.in before you pay. E-filing is both cheaper and faster than physical filing, so use the online route unless you have a reason not to.

Renewal only keeps your existing mark alive, it does not fix earlier problems. If the Registry ever raised an objection you did not answer, sort that out first using the trademark objection reply checklist.

Ten years from the date of registration, under Section 25(1) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. You can renew it for successive 10-year periods with no limit on the number of renewals, so a well-managed trademark can last indefinitely as long as you keep filing Form TM-R on time.

Yes, within limits. For six months after expiry you can renew on Form TM-R by paying the fee plus a surcharge, and your mark is protected from removal. Between six months and one year you can apply for restoration under Section 25(4). After one year there is no revival and you must file a fresh application.

It is the reminder the Registrar must send to the trademark owner before removing an expired mark, under Section 25(3). Courts have treated issuing this notice as a mandatory step. But do not depend on it, because a notice can go to an old address, so always track your own renewal date.

On-time renewal is Rs 9,000 per class for e-filing and Rs 10,000 per class for physical filing, as set in the First Schedule to the Trade Marks Rules, 2017. Late renewal in the grace period costs more because of the surcharge, and restoration costs the most. Always check the current figure on ipindia.gov.in.

Find your trademark registration certificate and note the exact expiry date, then set a reminder for one year before that date so you renew inside the free window. File Form TM-R online through ipindia.gov.in, or ask a trademark agent to file it, and keep the renewal receipt with your company records. If you run a small company, tie this into your wider compliance calendar alongside annual ROC filings and, for solo founders, One Person Company registration. For a citizen-first guide to using your right to information when dealing with government registries and records, read The RTI Playbook.