For instigating a trademark opposition proceedings, a notice of trademark opposition can be filed by any person within four months of the date of advertisement or re-advertisement of the application in the Trademark Journal. The trademark opposition must be on trademark form 5, in the prescribed manner along with the applicable fee, a trademark opposition notice should contain the following information:-
1) Application against which trademark opposition is entered including trademark registration application number, class of good or services for which trademark registration application was made and the name of applicant of the trademark application.
2) Details of the trademark opposition party including name and address.
3) The grounds for trademark opposition.
After the trademark opposition notice is filed with the Trademark Registrar, the registrar would provide A copy of trademark opposition notice to the trademark applicant. The trademark applicant within two months of the receipt of the trademark opposition notice has to provide a counter statement. If the trademark applicant fails to provide a counter statement the trademark would be contemplated as “abandoned”.
Once the trademark opposition filed and the counter statement filed, the registrar may call for a hearing of the parties. The registrar then has the option to rule on trademark registration application and trademark opposition filing based on the evidence presented.