How to Protect Your Brand Name Before Launch: Trademark, Domain and IP Checklist

Search before you commit

A name you cannot protect is a liability. Search the IP India register for identical and similar marks in the classes you plan to use, check MCA company and LLP names, and look at marketplaces and app stores for unregistered users with prior use. An earlier user can stop you even without registration, under the law of passing off. Shortlist two or three names before investing in design.

File the trademark early

You do not need to have started selling to file. A TM-A application can be filed on a 'proposed to be used' basis, which secures your filing date as priority. File the word mark first because it protects the name in any font, and the logo separately once final. If you plan to expand abroad, India's membership of the Madrid Protocol lets you extend protection from an Indian application, and the Paris Convention gives six months to file elsewhere while keeping the Indian date.

Lock down ownership

Copyright in a logo belongs to its creator unless assigned in writing. Get a signed assignment from every designer, agency, freelancer and co-founder who worked on the brand, website or code, covering all rights worldwide. If a founder filed the trademark personally, assign it to the company and record the assignment. Investors check these documents in due diligence.

• Written IP assignment from designers and agencies
• Founder IP assignment to the company
• Employee and contractor agreements with IP clauses
• Trademark application in the company's name, or assigned to it

Keep secrets secret

Disclosing an invention publicly before filing a patent can destroy novelty. Use NDAs with manufacturers, developers and potential partners, and file at least a provisional patent application before demos, pitches to large audiences or launch. Trade secrets such as recipes or algorithms need confidentiality agreements and access controls rather than registration.

Monitor and enforce

After filing, watch the Trade Marks Journal for similar marks and oppose within four months of their advertisement. Set up alerts on marketplaces and social platforms for copycats, and send cease and desist notices early. Consistent use of your mark, with the ™ symbol, builds evidence of use that strengthens your position later.

Costs at a glance

Brand protection is cheap relative to a forced rebrand. The trademark e-filing fee is ₹4,500 per class for individuals, startups and small enterprises and ₹9,000 for others. Domain names cost a few hundred to a few thousand rupees a year. Copyright and design registrations carry modest official fees. Patent costs are higher and depend on drafting and the type of applicant.

Common mistakes

Launching with an unsearched name, letting an agency register the domain in its own name, relying only on company name approval as protection, and showing a prototype publicly before filing a patent are the most expensive errors. Fixing them after launch costs far more than preventing them.

Step by step

1. 1Shortlist names

   Pick two or three distinctive options.

2. 2Search registers

   Check IP India, MCA, marketplaces and app stores.

3. 3Secure domains

   Register domains and social handles.

4. 4File trademark

   File TM-A for the word mark and logo in key classes.

5. 5Get assignments

   Obtain written IP assignments from creators.

6. 6Protect inventions

   Use NDAs and file patents or designs before disclosure.

7. 7Monitor

   Watch the journal and online platforms for conflicts.