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Your brand is an asset.
Paper it like one.

Search, filing, objections, oppositions and renewals — handled by IP lawyers who treat your name the way investors and acquirers will: as property.

Brand protection in India runs on the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and rewards whoever files first. The lifecycle: search and file (2–3 days, after which ™ applies), survive examination (a lawyer-drafted reply if objections come), clear the 4-month opposition window after journal publication, and register — then renew every 10 years, forever.

FilingBase covers the entire arc, plus the adjacent rights: copyright for creative works and software, and provisional patents for inventions that need a 12-month priority date while you build.

Which right protects what

Founders often ask for “a patent on my brand name” or “copyright on my logo” — the rights don’t work that way, and filing the wrong one protects nothing. The map: a trademark protects identifiers — names, logos, taglines — in commerce. Copyright protects works — code, content, designs, music — from copying. A patent protects inventions — a novel, non-obvious technical solution. One product can hold all three: the name trademarked, the code copyrighted, the mechanism patented.

Sequence matters more than completeness. The trademark comes first because it is cheap, fast to file, and first-to-file — the name you are building goodwill into is claimable by someone else every day it stays unfiled. Copyright technically exists on creation, so registration can wait until enforcement matters. Patents are the opposite: disclose the invention publicly before filing and you lose it — the provisional filing exists precisely to date-stamp the idea before you demo it.

Common questions

I got an examination report / objection. Is my trademark dead?

No — objections under Sections 9 and 11 are a normal stage, not a rejection. A reasoned reply within 30 days, with evidence of use, clears most of them. The mark only lapses if the deadline passes silently, which is the actual emergency.

What’s the difference between ™ and ®?

™ signals a claim — usable from the day of filing (or even unregistered). ® is reserved for registered marks and using it early is an offence. The commercial difference is enforcement power: registration converts disputes from goodwill-proving exercises into certificate-showing ones.

Should I trademark in my company name or my personal name?

Whoever owns the mark controls and can sell it. Funded startups should hold marks in the company (investors will require it). Solo founders sometimes hold personally and license to the entity — sensible in specific situations, worth five minutes with our IP lawyer before filing.

File before someone else does.

A free search and written risk opinion on your name — today, before it becomes someone else’s priority date.

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