Trademark Registration Status in India: Stages and What Each Status Means

The status on the IP India portal tells you where your application is sitting and whether the Registry is waiting for something from you. Most days the answer is “nothing, just wait”. A few statuses do carry a deadline, though, and missing one can end the application.

The usual path runs like this: New Application, Formalities Chk Pass, Marked for Exam, Examination Report Issued, Accepted and Advertised, Registered. Formalities Chk Pass only means your form, fee, class and documents cleared the first check. Formalities Chk Fail means something needs fixing before the file moves.

Four statuses need action from you: Formalities Chk Fail, Objected, Ready for Show Cause Hearing and Opposed. The rest is mostly waiting. Find yours in the table below.

Trademark Application Status List and Meaning

Formalities Chk Pass vs Formalities Chk Fail

Formalities Chk Pass means the housekeeping is done. The Registry has looked at your applicant details, category, class, goods or services description, power of attorney and logo, and found nothing to correct. It does not mean your mark is approved. Many first-time applicants celebrate at this point, a bit too early. Whether the mark can actually be registered is decided at examination.

Formalities Chk Fail is the opposite, and the cause is usually small. The common ones:

• Wrong applicant category (a sole proprietor filed under “Others”, for example)

• Name on the form not matching the power of attorney

• Description of goods not fitting the class selected

• Logo and the word typed in the application not matching

• User date claimed without a matching affidavit or invoice

• No translation for a word that is not English or Hindi

• Corrupted or unreadable uploads

You get one month from the date of the notice to reply. Count from the date printed on it, not from the day you opened the email. The reply goes through the e-filing portal, generally as Form TM-M, but follow the route your notice gives. Miss the date and the application is treated as abandoned. If the Registry is not happy with your reply, the status can slip back to Chk Fail with a fresh notice. This guide explains what to do after a formality check fail step by step.

What Happens After Formalities Chk Pass?

If your mark is a logo, you may first see Send to Vienna Codification. The Registry codes the design elements. You do nothing.

Then comes Marked for Exam, which is just a queue. How long you sit there depends on the office and the load. Older guides promise 5 to 8 months for the whole journey. These days a clean application can take roughly 12 to 24 months, and longer if someone opposes. It changes, so treat it as a rough range. The stages are laid out in this timeline of the trademark registration process.

The examiner then issues the examination report. If there are objections, the status shows Objected and you have one month to respond. That is tight. Our note on how to reply to an examination report covers the points that usually matter.

A weak reply is how people end up in a hearing. If you would rather not draft it yourself, we also handle trademark objection reply filings.

Reply accepted? The status moves to Accepted. Not convinced? It becomes Ready for Show Cause Hearing, where you or your attorney present the case. Skip that hearing and the application can be abandoned.

Accepted, Advertised and Opposed

Accepted and Advertised means your mark is published in the Trade Marks Journal. Anyone can oppose within four months. If nobody does, it heads to registration with nothing more from you.

Adv. Before Accepted is the odd one out. The Registrar can publish a mark before accepting it where there is some doubt or a special circumstance, such as honest concurrent use. The opposition window still applies.

Opposed means somebody has filed a notice of opposition. You get two months from receiving it to file a counter-statement, otherwise the application is treated as abandoned. Opposition is a different game altogether, and this primer on how a trademark opposition is filed in India is useful whichever side you are on.

Registered, Abandoned, Withdrawn and Removed

Registered means the certificate is issued. Protection runs for ten years from the date of application, so diarise the renewal early. Renewing the mark online keeps you clear of the Removed status.

Abandoned usually means a deadline was missed. Withdrawn means you pulled the application yourself, and that cannot be undone. Removed generally follows a missed renewal. If you see Abandoned or Removed and did not expect it, talk to a professional at once, because your options depend on how it happened.

How to Check Your Trademark Status Online

Go to ipindia.gov.in, open Trade Marks, choose Trade Mark Status, pick the application or registered mark option, enter your application number and click Status. The screen-by-screen steps are in our guide to checking trademark status online.

Check every couple of weeks, and again right after you file any reply. Notices go to the email and address on the application, so keep that inbox watched.

Vishvam PG, who filed with us in June 2026, wrote: “Had a great experience with LegalWiz for my trademark registration.” The reviewer also said the team kept them updated along the way. Staying updated is exactly what stops applications from lapsing.

Stuck on Formalities Chk Fail or Objected? Send us your application number and we will tell you what the notice is asking for. Or file your trademark with LegalWiz from the start.