How to Surrender Trademark Registration?

Trademark is a special symbol, design, mark, or any name which is used by any proprietor or company. A person or entity can use the marks if he has trademark registration as per Trade Mark Act, 1999. Trademark registration is a voluntary act of the person who wants to use that mark for his business and that person only has the right to use that mark no other person can use that mark until the authority is not given by the owner himself to the other person. Trademark registration is important as it prevents the usage of marks by other people for building their own business. The owner of a registered trademark has the right to surrender his trademark when he thinks fits. Further, he can apply for the voluntary cancellation of this trademark. 

Advantages of Trademark Registration

• After registration of a trademark, the owner gets the exclusive right on the mark and the owner of the trademark can only use the mark for his business and can file a complaint under Trade Mark Act, 1999 if it is used by any other person who is the owner or the authorized person of the registered trademark.
• It helps in the creation of Trust and faith in any business
• When a particular trademark gets registration, then the owner of the mark can use that mark in various businesses. Further, the clients can have faith in all your businesses which have the same mark.
• After the registration of a trademark, the owner gets the right for 10 years. Renewal takes place after the expiration.
• With the trademark registration, the owner can create intangible assets. It brings trust to the investors and to individuals who want to invest in the business as mark has its separate identity.
• You can take Legal action if there is any infringement of your trademark

Surrender of trademark by the owner

There can be several occasions where the owner of the trademark has the right to voluntarily surrender the trademark. It can be when the owner and the 3^rd party get into an agreement for the new business or for any decision taken by the owner of the trademark. The owner has to file an application for surrender of a trademark to the registrar under section 58, 1(c) of the Trade Mark Act, 1999. After the receipt of the application, Registrar can cancel the entry. If before the expiry of the trademark registration, the application has not been filed for the renewal, then it would be treated as a voluntary surrender of the trademark by the owner himself.

Documents Requirement for Surrender of Trademark

The following are the Documents requirement:

• Power of attorney (if appointed)
• If the trademark owner is a company then the copy of the declaration for certifying the surrender of the trademark.

Who can file application for surrender of Trademark?

The application for surrender is filed to the registrar of trademark or to the appellate board under whose jurisdiction registration has taken place. Intellectual property appellate board is the board registration of trademark in India.

The location for the board is at five places i.e., Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad. You need to provide an Application for surrender of a trademark either to the registrar or appellate board.

Procedure for Surrender of Trademark Registration:

• The owner of the trademark has to file an application form TM-P to the registrar for the surrender of a trademark with appropriate prescribed for surrender.
• After that attach an affidavit with the application stating the ground of voluntary surrender of a registered trademark.
• Before submitting, make sure to sign an affidavit and verify by the owner of the registered trademark who wants to surrender the trademark.
• If the owner does not attach an affidavit, then the registrar will send scrutiny notice to the trademark owner for its attachment
• After submission of the application and documents, further procedures will take place by the registrar. It will take four to six months for the final surrender of the trademark. Post surrender, the registrar will notify the owner of the trademark.

Conclusion

As the registration of a trademark is a voluntary act. The Trade Mark Act, 1999 has also provided the right to the owner of the registered trademark to voluntarily surrender his mark with the registrar so that he can cancel the registration of the trademark. Generally, the owners of the trademark surrender their rights by the cancellation of the trademark in the case where the owner gets into an agreement with the third party for new business or the owner does not want to use the registered trademark further.