A brand, a body of software, a product design or a manufacturing process may be the most valuable thing a business owns, and each is protected in a different way. Intellectual property lawyers help secure those rights, record who owns them and enforce them when they are copied. Trademark filings and examination replies are made online and hearings can be held by video conference, so a trademark lawyer in Raipur can take a mark from search to registration for a business anywhere in Chhattisgarh.
Trademark registration and opposition
An application under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 may cover a mark already in use or one proposed to be used, in one or more of the forty-five classes of goods and services. A search before filing reduces the risk of objection. The Registry examines the application and may object on absolute grounds, such as a descriptive mark, or on relative grounds, such as a similar earlier mark, and a written reply and a hearing may follow.
Once accepted, the mark is advertised in the Trade Marks Journal, and anyone may oppose it within four months of advertisement. The applicant must file a counter-statement within two months of receiving the notice of opposition, or the application is treated as abandoned. A registration lasts ten years and can be renewed for further periods of ten years without limit.
Copyright, patents and designs
Copyright under the Copyright Act, 1957 arises as soon as an original work is created; registration is optional but serves as prima facie evidence of the particulars entered. Software is protected as a literary work. An employer owns what an employee creates in the course of employment, but a work commissioned from an outside developer or agency usually stays with its author unless assigned in writing, and an assignment that states no term or territory is presumed to be for five years and for India.
Patents under the Patents Act, 1970 protect inventions that are new, involve an inventive step and are capable of industrial application, for twenty years from filing; computer programmes as such are excluded. Registered designs protect the shape, configuration or ornament of an article for ten years, extendable by five, under the Designs Act, 2000. Our work on patents and designs centres on ownership, licensing, oppositions and enforcement.
Licensing, enforcement and domain names
Rights earn their value through licences and assignments: brand licences and franchises, software and technology licences, and transfers on an acquisition or restructuring. An assignment of a registered trademark should be recorded with the Registrar, because an unrecorded assignment is not admitted as evidence of title unless the Registrar or the court directs otherwise. When a right is infringed, the remedies include:
- suits for infringement of a registered mark, or for passing off where a mark is unregistered, with interim injunctions
- suits for infringement of copyright and designs, and patent suits, which move to the High Court if the defendant counter-claims for revocation
- local commissioners appointed to seize infringing goods or preserve evidence
- criminal complaints against counterfeiting under the Trade Marks Act and the Copyright Act
- recording rights with Customs so that infringing imports can be intercepted
- complaints against cybersquatted domain names under the .IN Dispute Resolution Policy or the UDRP
Intellectual property suits are commercial disputes under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, and the Trade Marks and Copyright Acts let a proprietor sue where it carries on business. Since the Intellectual Property Appellate Board was abolished in 2021, appeals from the Registrar and the Controller, and rectification and revocation matters, have been heard by the High Courts. Disputes over technology contracts and other commercial suits are run with our civil and commercial litigation practice.
You can reach the firm's Raipur office about a filing, a licence or an infringement.
What the practice handles
- Trademark searches, clearance opinions and registration
- Replies to examination reports and hearings before the Registrar
- Trademark oppositions, rectification and cancellation proceedings
- Copyright registration, ownership reviews and assignments
- Patent and design ownership, licensing and oppositions
- Brand, franchise, software and technology licences
- Infringement and passing off suits, including interim injunctions
- Anti-counterfeiting action, including criminal complaints and Customs recordal
- Domain name complaints under the INDRP and the UDRP
Where these matters are heard
- Trade Marks Registry, Patent Office and Copyright Office
- District and Commercial Courts, for infringement and passing off suits
- High Courts, which since 2021 hear the appeals and rectification and revocation matters that went to the IPAB
- INDRP panels administered by NIXI, and UDRP providers such as the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
Questions about Intellectual Property
Can I use the ® symbol once I have applied for a trademark?
No. The ® symbol signals a registered mark, and using it before registration, or for goods and services the registration does not cover, can amount to falsely representing a mark as registered, which is an offence under the Trade Marks Act, 1999. While an application is pending, businesses commonly use ‘TM’ to signal their claim to the mark.
Do I need to register copyright to own it?
No. Copyright exists as soon as an original work is created and expressed. Registration with the Copyright Office is optional, but the entries in the Register of Copyrights are prima facie evidence of the particulars recorded, which helps in a dispute. Registration does not by itself settle ownership between an author and a party that commissioned the work; the contract does.
What happens if someone opposes my trademark application?
You must file a counter-statement within two months of receiving the notice of opposition; if you do not, the application is treated as abandoned. The opponent then files evidence, you file evidence in reply, and the Registrar hears both sides before deciding. A coexistence agreement limiting goods, territory or presentation can settle an opposition at any stage.
Where are intellectual property appeals heard now that the IPAB is abolished?
The Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 abolished the Intellectual Property Appellate Board and transferred its functions to the High Courts and other courts. Appeals against orders of the Registrar of Trade Marks or the Controller of Patents, and rectification and revocation matters, now go to a High Court. Some High Courts have set up specialist intellectual property divisions to hear them.
How are domain name disputes resolved?
Disputes over .in domains go under the .IN Dispute Resolution Policy administered by NIXI, and generic domains such as .com under the UDRP. The complainant must show that the domain is identical or confusingly similar to its mark, that the registrant has no legitimate interest in it, and bad faith, which the UDRP requires at both registration and use. Courts have also protected domain names through passing off.
A question that is not answered here? Send it to the firm.
This page describes the law in general terms as of 24 September 2026. It is not legal advice. The outcome of any matter depends on its facts, and the firm does not guarantee results.
