Rules 5 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Rules 5, 6 and 7 follow directly on rule 4, which fixes the appropriate office. If you are unsure where your file sits, a legal consultation can help you check. Rule 5 says that moving house or changing your address does not move your file to another Registry office. Rule 6 says the appropriate office is written into the register. Rule 7 deals with matters that were pending when the Rules began. Together they give stability: once the appropriate office is fixed, it stays fixed.
No change in the principal place of business in India or in the address for service in India affects the jurisdiction of the appropriate office (rule 5). The Registrar must enter the appropriate office in the register for every mark on the register at the notified date or registered afterwards, and may correct an error in the entry (rule 6). Every application and proceeding pending at the notified date is deemed transferred to the appropriate office (rule 7).
Rule 5: a later change does not change the office
Rule 5 provides that no change in the principal place of business in India, or in the address for service in India, "shall affect the jurisdiction of the appropriate office of the Trade Marks Registry". It has two limbs, matching the two parts of rule 4.
| Limb | Whose change | Which change is ignored |
|---|---|---|
| A | A registered proprietor, or any of the jointly registered proprietors, of a mark on the register at the notified date | A change made or effected after the notified date |
| B | An applicant, or any joint applicant, for a mark whose application is pending at the notified date or is made on or after it | A change made or effected after the notified date or after the date of filing the application, as the case may be |
In plain words: the office is fixed by the facts at the time the rule 4 test is applied. Rule 4 asks for the principal place of business "as entered in the register at such date" (part A) or "as disclosed in the application" (part B), so a move after that point does not shift the file.
Example: Meera Spices Pvt Ltd files a trademark application stating its principal place of business as Indore. Two years later it moves its head office to Bengaluru. Under rule 5, limb B, the move does not change the appropriate office for that application. The company can still change its address in the register, and the address for service will be updated, but the file stays with the office fixed at filing.
What rule 5 does not do: it does not stop a change of address from being recorded, and it does not say that a notice sent to the old address is good service. For where notices must go, see rule 17 on address for service. The text of rule 5 deals only with jurisdiction.
Rule 6: the office is entered in the register
Rule 6 says: "In respect of every trademark on the register at the notified date or registered thereafter the Registrar shall cause to be entered in the register, the appropriate office of the Trade Marks Registry and the Registrar may, at any time, correct any error in the entry so made."
Three points follow.
- It is mandatory ("shall"). The Registrar causes the entry to be made. The proprietor does not apply.
- It covers both old and new marks. Marks on the register at the notified date and marks registered after it.
- Errors can be corrected "at any time". The text does not set a time limit or a form for correction, and it does not say whether the Registrar acts only on his own or also on a request. Rule 53(2)(i), which lists what each register entry specifies, also requires the entry to show the appropriate office.
The entry matters because rule 4, part A(v), and later rules look to what the register shows. If you spot the wrong office in your entry, you can raise it. The rules do not name a form for this purpose in rule 6 itself.
Rule 7: pending matters move to the appropriate office
Rule 7 says that "Every application and proceeding pending before the Registrar at the notified date in relation to a trademark shall be deemed to have been transferred to the appropriate office of the Trade Marks Registry."
The word "deemed" means that no party needed to make a request or file a form for the transfer. It happened by operation of the rule on the notified date. The rule covers applications and "proceeding", which on the Act's scheme would include oppositions, rectification applications and other contested matters. The text itself does not list them.
Example: an opposition was pending at one office on the notified date. Under rule 7 it stood transferred to the appropriate office, worked out under rule 4, so a party who found the file at a different office from the one named in an older notice would look to rule 7 to understand why. The text does not say how the parties are informed, and does not say that hearings fixed earlier are cancelled.
Putting rules 4 to 8 together
| Rule | What it does |
|---|---|
| 4 | Fixes the appropriate office by the principal place of business or address for service |
| 5 | Keeps it unchanged despite later moves |
| 6 | Requires it to be entered in the register |
| 7 | Moves pending matters to it |
| 8 | Requires documents and fees to be sent to it |
The Act's own provisions on the Registrar and the Registry are in sections 3 to 5; the rules above are the working detail.
Version note
The text is the Rules as notified on 6 March 2017. Later amendments should be checked before you rely on these rules for a current matter.
Need help with a Registry matter at the wrong office?
If you are unsure which office holds your file, or the register shows an office you did not expect, a legal consultation can help you check the entry and decide the next step.
Key takeaways
- A later change of business place or address for service does not change the appropriate office (rule 5).
- The Registrar must enter the appropriate office in the register and may correct errors at any time (rule 6).
- Pending applications and proceedings at the notified date were deemed transferred to the appropriate office (rule 7).
- None of these rules fixes the list of offices; that comes from the Registry's own notices.
Read next
- Rules 3–4: principal place of business and the appropriate office
- Rules 8–9: leaving of documents and issue of notices
- Rules 17–18: address for service and service by the Registrar
- Trade Marks Registry: offices, jurisdiction and powers
Disclaimer: Based on the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 as notified on 6 March 2017, as consulted on 1 October 2026. Later amendment rules, forms and fees should be checked in their current form. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.