What is a trademark watch?

Checking each new journal (and other sources) for marks that conflict with yours or your clients', so you can oppose them in time.

How long do I have to act on a conflict found in the journal?

Four months from the date the journal is made available, by filing Form TM-O.

How to watch the Trade Marks Journal

Checked against the Trade Marks Act, 1999, the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 and IP India's fee table on 30 October 2026.

The Trade Marks Journal is published every week on the IP India website and advertises thousands of accepted applications. To watch it, compare every advertised mark with your clients' marks in the same class: identical words, shared word parts, marks that sound alike, and similar logos. Any conflict must be opposed within four months of the journal date.

What the journal contains

Each journal lists applications the Registry has accepted, with the mark (words or a logo), the class, the goods or services, the applicant and the date of use claimed. A single journal can run to thousands of pages. Once a mark is advertised, anyone has four months to oppose it.

What to compare

Same class first. Conflicts almost always come from the same or a related class.
Identical words, and marks that share a distinctive word part (SUNRISE against SUNRISE GOLD).
Marks that sound alike when spoken, which matters in India where marks are asked for by name in shops (KWIKSTAR against QUICKSTAR).
Logos. Many advertised marks are images with words in them, sometimes in Hindi or another Indian script, that typed searches miss.
Well-known marks. An application close to a mark on IP India's list of well-known marks deserves a closer look whatever the class.

By hand or with software

	By hand	With watch software
Coverage	What someone has time to read that week	Every advertised mark against every portfolio mark
Logos	Easy to miss when the logo has no typed text	Words in logos read automatically, Hindi included
Sound-alikes	Depends on the reader	Matched by sound as well as spelling
Last date to oppose	Counted and diarised by hand	Shown on every match

Nishaan downloads and reads every journal on the day it appears, matches it against your clients' marks by word, sound and logo, and explains why each match was flagged.

See journal watch

Common questions

How often is the Trade Marks Journal published?: Every week, on the IP India website.
What is a trademark watch?: Checking each new journal (and other sources) for marks that conflict with yours or your clients', so you can oppose them in time.
How long do I have to act on a conflict found in the journal?: Four months from the date the journal is made available, by filing Form TM-O.

Related guides

This guide explains the law in general. It is not legal advice for a particular case; check the Registry's records and speak to a trademark attorney before you act.