In short: CA Murli Chandak is a Chartered Accountant (FCA) and IBBI-Registered Valuer who handles trademark work in Mumbai on 2 tracks that are usually split across 2 different advisors: registering and protecting the mark — search, classification, filing, examination and opposition — and valuing it, for the moments when a funding round, an acquisition, a licensing deal or a set of financial statements needs a defensible number attached to the brand. The first 30-minute consultation is free.
Contents
1. Why a Trademark in Mumbai Needs More Than a Registration Number
2. Before You File: Search and Class Selection
3. The Registration Process, Step by Step
4. Government Fees for Trademark Registration
5. Common Objections and How They Are Resolved
6. Opposition: What Happens After Publication
7. When a Trademark Needs a Valuation, Not Just a Filing
8. How Trademark Valuation Actually Works
9. Why One Advisor for Registration and Valuation Matters
10. Renewal, Assignment, Licensing and Enforcement
11. Who This Serves in Mumbai
12. How an Engagement Starts
13. Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why a Trademark in Mumbai Needs More Than a Registration Number
Mumbai’s business base — BFSI, media and entertainment, D2C and e-commerce brands, manufacturing with a retail-facing name — is unusually dependent on brand value rather than just physical assets. A registered trademark is a legal right: it stops others from using a confusingly similar mark. On its own, it does not say what that right is worth, and in Mumbai specifically, questions about value come up almost as often as questions about registrability, because so much of the city’s business activity runs through funding rounds, acquisitions and listed-company reporting where a number is required, not just a certificate.
These 2 tracks — registration and valuation — are usually handled by 2 different professionals: a trademark attorney or agent for the filing, and a valuer for the number, engaged separately, often months apart. In practice they inform each other more than that split suggests. A search that turns up a crowded field of similar marks does not just raise the risk of an objection or opposition; it also caps what the mark could ever be worth, because distinctiveness drives both registrability and value. A mark that clears registration but was built on borrowed brand equity or thin, recent use will not hold up well in a valuation either. CA Murli Chandak’s Mumbai trademark practice runs both tracks from one place for exactly this reason.
2. Before You File: Search and Class Selection
A trademark application starts with a search of the Trade Marks Registry’s public database for identical and deceptively similar marks — visually, phonetically and conceptually — across the relevant classes, not just an exact-match check. Skipping this, or doing it narrowly, is the single most common reason applications run into objections or oppositions later.
Class selection is the other place applications go wrong. Goods and services are classified under the Nice Classification, and the 13th edition, effective 1 January 2026, reshuffled the headings and scope descriptions for a number of classes. A business that assumes its category sits where it always has can find, at the examination stage, that part of its description belongs in a different class altogether — which means a fresh application, a new priority date, and the earlier government fee spent without full protection to show for it. Getting the search and the classification right before filing is worth more than any step that follows it.
3. The Registration Process, Step by Step
Once the mark, classes and applicant category are settled, the application is filed on Form TM-A, the single form used for all trademark applications, whether for a word mark, a logo or a series. From there: a. Formalities check, confirming the application and supporting documents are complete. b. Examination, where the Registry checks the mark against absolute grounds (is it distinctive at all) and relative grounds (does it conflict with an earlier mark), and issues an examination report if there are objections. c. Response or hearing, replying in writing within the prescribed time, with a hearing if the objection is not resolved on the papers. d. Publication in the Trade Marks Journal once the Registry is satisfied the mark can proceed. e. Opposition window, 4 months from publication — a strict deadline, no longer extendable since the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 removed the Registrar’s discretion to grant more time — during which third parties can oppose. f. Registration, with a certificate issued if no opposition is filed or any opposition is resolved in the applicant’s favour, valid for 10 years from the filing date and renewable indefinitely in 10-year terms.
Handled cleanly, an unopposed application currently registers in roughly 12 to 18 months — longer than the 6 to 12 months often quoted, because the Registry’s examination queue is carrying a substantial backlog through 2026. Opposition, if it happens, adds materially to that timeline, which is one more reason the search and classification work at the start matters more than it looks like it does.
4. Government Fees for Trademark Registration
The government e-filing fee is fixed by the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 and is the same regardless of which professional, if any, is engaged to help — the only fee that is genuinely non-negotiable.
| Applicant category | E-filing fee (per class) | Physical filing fee (per class) |
|---|---|---|
| Individual, DPIIT-recognised startup, or Udyam-registered small enterprise | Rs 4,500 | Rs 5,000 |
| Company, LLP, partnership, trust or other applicant | Rs 9,000 | Rs 10,000 |
The fee is charged per class, per mark, with no discount for filing several classes in one application. Renewal, every 10 years, is a flat Rs 9,000 per class online (Rs 10,000 physical) regardless of applicant category — the individual/startup/MSME concession applies only to the first application, not to renewal.
5. Common Objections and How They Are Resolved
Objections under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 fall into 2 categories. Section 9, absolute grounds, covers marks that are not distinctive, are purely descriptive of the goods or services, or have become customary in the trade — a mark can usually overcome this by showing acquired distinctiveness through use, or by amending the specification. Section 11, relative grounds, covers conflict with an earlier identical or similar mark for identical or similar goods or services, where the response typically turns on establishing that the marks or the goods/services are not, in fact, similar enough to cause confusion, or securing a no-objection or consent from the earlier mark’s owner.
Both routes need the response drafted and filed within the prescribed period, with evidence where the ground is acquired distinctiveness or prior use, and a hearing attended where the Registry is not satisfied on the papers alone.
6. Opposition: What Happens After Publication
Publication in the Trade Marks Journal opens a 4-month window, fixed by Section 21(1) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and no longer extendable under the Trade Marks Rules, 2017, in which any third party can file a notice of opposition. If one is filed, the applicant files a counter-statement within 2 months, both sides file evidence, and the matter proceeds to a hearing before the Registry decides. Opposition is where a thin search at the filing stage tends to surface as an actual cost — the marks most likely to be opposed are exactly the ones a thorough search would have flagged as contestable before the application was ever filed.
Raising funding, closing a deal, or setting a royalty rate — and need your trademark’s value on paper?
CA Murli Chandak can tell you, in a free 30-minute consultation, whether your situation needs a registration, a valuation, or both, and what each would involve.
7. When a Trademark Needs a Valuation, Not Just a Filing
A registration certificate is the same regardless of whether the mark underneath it is worth Rs 1 lakh or Rs 10 crore. A number gets attached to it, separately, when one of a few specific situations comes up. Fundraising, where investors increasingly want the brand’s contribution to enterprise value substantiated rather than asserted. Mergers and acquisitions, where the trademark is one of the identifiable intangible assets that has to be separately valued for purchase price allocation once a deal closes, under Ind AS 103. Licensing or franchising, where setting a fair royalty rate requires knowing what the brand itself is worth, independent of the products sold under it. Financial reporting, where Ind AS 38 governs how intangible assets, trademarks included, are recognised and, in some circumstances, tested for impairment. Disputes, including infringement damages claims, family settlements and business dissolutions, where a defensible, independent number is what a claim or a settlement actually rests on.
None of these need a valuation at the time of filing. All of them need one eventually, for businesses whose trademark is doing real commercial work.
8. How Trademark Valuation Actually Works
CA Murli Chandak values trademarks and brands under ICAI Valuation Standard 302, the standard governing intangible assets in India, using whichever of 3 approaches the available information actually supports — not a template applied by default. The market approach uses prices from comparable arm’s-length transactions involving similar marks — usable when that data exists, which for most trademarks it does not. The cost approach estimates what it would cost to recreate the brand’s recognition from nothing — a rough proxy at best, since brand recognition is not simply bought. The income approach, and within it the relief-from-royalty method specifically, is the one actually used in most trademark valuations: it treats the trademark as if the business had to license it from a third-party owner, estimates the royalty rate that licence would command, and converts the royalty payments the business is “relieved” from paying, over the mark’s useful life, into a single present value.
The output is a reasoned, defensible estimate, built on the business’s own financials and projections, not a market-quoted price — which is exactly why the valuer’s judgment on inputs (royalty rate, useful life, discount rate) matters as much as the method itself.
9. Why One Advisor for Registration and Valuation Matters
CA Murli Chandak’s own credentials cover both halves of this directly, rather than either being outsourced. He is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) with 8+ years in practice and an IBBI-Registered Valuer (Securities or Financial Assets) with 300+ valuations completed across 7+ countries including the USA — a registration that extends directly to intangible assets, trademarks and brands among them, under ICAI Valuation Standard 302. On the registration side, his practice manages the trademark search, class strategy, application drafting and e-filing, and the response and hearing strategy through examination and any opposition, in-house rather than referred out to a separate agent.
Run separately, registration and valuation are 2 disconnected engagements with 2 different advisors learning the same business from scratch. Run together, the search and classification work done at filing — how distinctive the mark actually is, how crowded the field is, how long and how consistently it has been used — is the same diligence a valuation needs as its starting input. A business raising a funding round, closing an acquisition, or setting a franchise royalty gets a registration status and a valuation that are actually consistent with each other, from one advisor who did the underlying work once.
10. Renewal, Assignment, Licensing and Enforcement
A trademark’s protection does not end at registration. Renewal is due every 10 years; filing within 1 year before expiry avoids the 6-month grace period’s surcharge, and a lapsed mark can be restored within a further year, after which the registration is gone and the mark is open to anyone. Assignment, transferring ownership, and licensing, permitting someone else to use the mark, both need to be recorded with the Registry to be enforceable against third parties — an unrecorded assignment or licence is a weak position to be in if it is ever contested. Enforcement, when infringement happens, typically starts with a cease-and-desist notice and escalates to civil action for an injunction and damages where that does not resolve it. All 4 of these depend on the same underlying question a valuation answers — what the mark is actually worth — whether that is to set a licence royalty, price an assignment, or size a damages claim.
11. Who This Serves in Mumbai
Startups raising a funding round, where investors ask for the brand’s value to be substantiated as part of diligence. D2C and e-commerce brands, where the trademark is frequently the single most valuable asset on the balance sheet, tangible or not. Media, entertainment and BFSI businesses, where Mumbai’s concentration of activity means brand-driven value is the norm rather than the exception. Manufacturers and family-run businesses moving through a generational transition or ownership restructuring, where the trademark’s value feeds directly into succession planning, buyouts or estate settlement. And any business, of any size, that simply needs the mark registered and protected without a valuation question attached yet — the registration work stands on its own.
Being based in Ahmedabad does not change how this runs for Mumbai clients: documents, evidence and instructions move digitally, filings are e-filed directly with the Registry, and the full trademark and valuation cycle is served remotely on the same process used for clients everywhere else. A fuller professional background is set out separately, and the same practice also handles Virtual CFO and registered valuation work for Mumbai businesses.
12. How an Engagement Starts
Registration and valuation are scoped, and quoted, separately, because they are different pieces of work with different deliverables. Every engagement starts the same way: a free 30-minute consultation to understand what is actually needed — a filing, a valuation, or both — followed by a written quotation setting out the scope, the deliverable, and the professional fee, on top of the fixed government fee shown above where a filing is involved. Clients retain their own Trade Marks Registry correspondence and receive the valuation working papers behind any report issued — the record belongs to the business.
13. Frequently Asked Questions
How long does trademark registration take in Mumbai?
Currently around 12 to 18 months for an unopposed application, from filing to registration certificate, reflecting the Registry’s present examination backlog rather than the 6 to 12 months sometimes still quoted from earlier years. Opposition, if it happens, adds to that timeline; there is no fixed upper bound once a matter is contested.
How much does it cost to register a trademark?
The government e-filing fee is Rs 4,500 per class for individuals, DPIIT-recognised startups and Udyam-registered small enterprises, and Rs 9,000 per class for companies, LLPs and other applicants, under the Trade Marks Rules, 2017. Professional fees are quoted separately, in writing, based on scope.
Do I need a trademark valuation, or just a registration?
Most businesses only need a registration at first. A valuation becomes relevant when a specific event requires a number — a funding round, an acquisition, a licensing or franchise arrangement, statutory financial reporting under Ind AS, or a dispute.
What is the relief-from-royalty method?
The income-approach method most commonly used for trademark valuation. It treats the mark as if it were licensed from a third party, estimates the royalty rate that licence would carry, and converts the royalty the business avoids paying, over the mark’s useful life, into a present value.
Can the same advisor handle both the trademark filing and the valuation?
Yes, where the advisor is qualified for both — a Chartered Accountant and IBBI-Registered Valuer handling the search, filing and prosecution alongside the valuation, rather than 2 separate engagements with 2 advisors working from a standing start.
What happens if someone opposes my trademark application?
A notice of opposition, filed within 4 months of publication — a deadline that cannot be extended — is answered with a counter-statement within 2 months, itself non-extendable, followed by evidence from both sides and a hearing before the Registry decides. A thorough search before filing is the best protection against this happening at all.
Does my trademark need to be renewed?
Yes, every 10 years, for a flat Rs 9,000 per class (online) regardless of applicant category — the startup/MSME concession applies only to the first application, not renewal. Filing within 1 year before expiry avoids the grace-period surcharge.
What is Ind AS 103 and why does it matter for my trademark?
Ind AS 103 governs how a business combination is accounted for, including the requirement to separately identify and value intangible assets — trademarks among them — as part of purchase price allocation once an acquisition closes.
Do you only serve businesses physically located in Mumbai?
No. The practice is based in Ahmedabad; filings are e-filed directly with the Trade Marks Registry regardless of location, and the full search-to-registration and valuation cycle runs digitally for clients across Mumbai and elsewhere.
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Whether the immediate need is a first trademark filing, a response to an examination report or opposition, or a valuation for a funding round, an acquisition or a set of financial statements — the starting point is the same conversation. The first 30 minutes are free.
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CA Murli Chandak – FCA | IBBI-Registered Valuer (Securities or Financial Assets) | IBBI/RV/07/2021/14408
Website: murlichandak.com
Phone: +91 99985 39902
Email: murlichandak@murlichandak.com
Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal, tax or professional advice. Trademark law, government fees, classification editions and valuation standards change through amendments, notifications and Registry practice; the positions stated here were verified against publicly available sources as of August 2026 and should be confirmed against the latest official material before acting. Engagement terms, scope and fees are confirmed in writing before any assignment begins.