Around 70% of applications receive an examination objection under ss.9 and 11 of the Trade Marks Act 1999 — s.9 covers marks lacking distinctiveness or consisting of common names/descriptive words, and s.11 covers conflict with an earlier registered mark or earlier application. An objection is a normal step in the process, not a rejection; most are resolved with a written reply in Form TM-M.

You have one month from the date of the examination report to file your reply in Form TM-M under Rule 33 of the Trade Marks Rules 2017 — after that the application is treated as abandoned unless you file a request for extension on the prescribed form and pay the fee, which buys an additional one month. Missing both windows abandons the application.

A TM-M reply addresses each ground cited in the examination report with legal argument and evidence — for s.11 objections, distinguishing your mark from the cited prior marks (look, phonetic similarity, goods/services class, trade channels); for s.9, demonstrating acquired distinctiveness or the mark's inherent registrability. A well-drafted reply often clears the mark at first hearing without a hearing.

If the Registrar is not satisfied after considering the reply, the applicant is given a hearing under Rule 36 of the Trade Marks Rules 2017, and if still refused the applicant can appeal the refusal order to the IPAB-successor (the High Court) within the prescribed period under s.91 of the Trade Marks Act 1999. The tracker shows your current stage so you know how much runway you have.

The checker queries IP India's examination data for your application number and shows the examination report date, the reply deadline, the classes, and the specific sections cited — with the source URL linked. Examination reports can take time to surface and status changes through the lifecycle, so re-check or confirm directly on the IP India portal before relying on a 'clear' result.