Trademark application passes from several stages, where Examination by Registry is a crucial stage. An officer would examine the application and check for any errors or correctness of the application confirming to the Trade Marks Act and its Rules.
Upon review, an examination report is issued with the comments of the examiner. If there is no conflict of rules or other trademarks, it is passed to publication in Journal. However, in the case of confliction, the examiner raises an objection and alerts the applicant/ attorney to submit his/her reply as to why the application should be passed to next stage. Failure to reply may abandon the application which compels the applicant to file a reply to the examination report issued by the Registry.
Mark not Distinguished or Unique
Deceptively similar Marks
Mark describing Characteristics of Products
Descriptive Nature of the Trademark
Filing reply to examination report is mandatory to reach the next stage of the registration process. Failure in filing the reply to trademark objection report within a month from the date of dispatch of the said report would lead to the abandonment of the whole TM application.
The Trademark objection reply letter provides the opportunity to present the ground as to why the applicant is entitled to get his/her mark registered. With written reply to the report, one put can put forward the arguments on how the objections are not applicable to the TM application and show the mark’s distinctive features.