Section 57 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.
Section 57 is the central rectification provision. It lets a person aggrieved ask for a registration to be cancelled or varied for breach of a condition on the register, and ask for entries to be made, expunged or varied where the register is wrong. It also lets the authority act of its own motion. If you are aggrieved by a registration, or your own registration has been challenged, our trademark rectification and removal team can assess the grounds and prepare the application or reply.
On application in the prescribed manner to the High Court or to the Registrar by a person aggrieved, the Registrar or the High Court, as the case may be, may cancel or vary a registration for contravention or failure to observe a condition entered on the register (sub-section (1)), and may make, expunge or vary entries where an entry is missing, made without sufficient cause, wrongly remaining, or erroneous or defective (sub-section (2)). It may decide any related question, and may act of its own motion after notice and a hearing. An order of the High Court rectifying the register must direct that notice be served on the Registrar, who then rectifies the register.
The 2021 change in wording
Section 57, as enacted, says "Appellate Board" and "tribunal". The Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 amended section 57 so that "Appellate Board" (wherever it occurs) is replaced by "High Court", and "tribunal" (wherever it occurs) is replaced by "Registrar or the High Court, as the case may be". Before the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 this read "Appellate Board" and "tribunal". The article below uses the current words. For the general picture, see Sections 83-100: the Appellate Board abolished, and for the companion provision, Section 125.
Sub-section by sub-section
| Sub-section | What it says |
|---|---|
| (1) | On application in the prescribed manner to the High Court or the Registrar by any person aggrieved, the Registrar or the High Court, as the case may be, may make such order as it thinks fit for cancelling or varying the registration of a trade mark on the ground of any contravention, or failure to observe a condition entered on the register in relation to it |
| (2) | Any person aggrieved by the absence or omission from the register of any entry, or by any entry made without sufficient cause, or by any entry wrongly remaining on the register, or by any error or defect in any entry, may apply in the prescribed manner to the High Court or the Registrar, who may make such order for making, expunging or varying the entry as it thinks fit |
| (3) | The authority may in any proceeding under the section decide any question that may be necessary or expedient to decide in connection with rectification |
| (4) | The authority of its own motion may, after giving notice in the prescribed manner to the parties concerned and an opportunity of being heard, make any order referred to in sub-section (1) or (2) |
| (5) | Any order of the High Court rectifying the register shall direct that notice be served on the Registrar in the prescribed manner, and the Registrar shall, on receipt, rectify the register accordingly |
Sub-section (1): conditions on the register
This ground is narrow: a contravention of, or failure to observe, a condition entered on the register. Conditions and limitations can be placed on a registration, for instance under section 12 on concurrent registration, and appear on the register. If a proprietor breaches them, an aggrieved person can ask for cancellation or variation. See Section 6 for what the register carries.
Sub-section (2): four situations where the register is wrong
The four situations are separate and wide:
- Absence or omission of an entry that should be there.
- An entry made without sufficient cause.
- An entry wrongly remaining on the register.
- An error or defect in an entry.
The second and third are the ones commonly used by a competitor who says a mark should never have been registered or should no longer remain. The Act does not list the reasons; the section speaks only of "sufficient cause" and "wrongly remaining". The specific non-use ground has its own section 47; see Section 47.
Who is a "person aggrieved"?
The section uses the phrase without defining it. The Act's text gives no list. Describe your own position in the application, setting out the nature of your interest. The Rules, in rule 97, require a statement "setting out fully the nature of the applicant's interest, the facts upon which he bases his case and the relief which he seeks".
Sub-section (3): ancillary questions
The authority "may in any proceeding under this section decide any question that may be necessary or expedient to decide in connection with the rectification of the register". It need not stop at the narrow issue raised in the application when a connected question has to be settled to rectify properly.
Sub-section (4): action on its own motion
The authority may act without any application, "after giving notice in the prescribed manner to the parties concerned and after giving them an opportunity of being heard". The Rules, in rule 100 as notified, require the notice to go in writing to the registered proprietor, each registered user and any other person who appears from the register to have an interest. It must state the grounds on which the Registrar proposes to rectify, and set a time, not less than one month from the notice, within which an application for a hearing is to be made. A person who sends neither a written statement nor a hearing request in time may be treated as not wishing to take part. The rule also has a proviso for a registered proprietor who has asked or agreed in writing for cancellation. Check the Rules as currently amended.
Sub-section (5): giving effect to an order
An order of the High Court rectifying the register directs that notice of the rectification be served on the Registrar, and the Registrar rectifies the register accordingly. See Sections 97-98 for the related procedure.
Procedure under the Rules
The Trade Marks Rules, 2017 as notified say that an application under sections 47, 57, 68 or 77 is made in Form TM-O with a statement of the applicant's interest, the facts and the relief sought (rule 97). Copies go to the registered proprietor and registered users; the proprietor has two months from receipt to file a counterstatement, with a limited extension (rule 98). Third parties alleging an interest may apply for leave to intervene (rule 99). The fee is in the First Schedule; no amount is given here.
Example. Bose Pharma finds that a competitor's mark "Nirmal Health" was entered on the register although the competitor's application was, in Bose's view, filed without sufficient cause. Bose is a person aggrieved, since it uses an earlier similar mark. Bose files a rectification application under section 57(2) with a statement of its interest and facts. The competitor files a counterstatement within the period in the Rules. The authority may decide any question needed to rectify and may expunge the entry.
Practical points
- Choose the right limb. Condition breach goes under (1); wrongful entries and errors under (2); non-use under section 47.
- Prove your standing as a person aggrieved.
- Watch the Rules timelines on counterstatements and evidence.
- Do not ignore an own-motion notice. Failing to respond in time can be treated as not wishing to take part.
- Remember the High Court's order is implemented through the Registrar under sub-section (5).
Need help with a rectification application?
Rectification is a technical process with short response periods. Our trademark rectification and removal team can assess the grounds, prepare the application and statement or your reply, and represent you at the hearing.
Key takeaways
- A person aggrieved may apply to the High Court or the Registrar to cancel or vary a registration for breach of a condition on the register.
- The register can be rectified for absent entries, entries made without sufficient cause, entries wrongly remaining and errors or defects.
- The authority may decide any connected question and may act of its own motion after notice and a hearing.
- A High Court order rectifying the register is served on the Registrar, who rectifies the register.
- "Appellate Board" became "High Court" and "tribunal" became "Registrar or the High Court, as the case may be" under the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021.
- The Rules name Form TM-O for the application.
Read next
- Section 58: correction of the register
- Section 47: removal from the register for non-use
- Section 125: rectification application to be made to the High Court
- Trademark cancellation petition: grounds and process
Disclaimer: Based on the Trade Marks Act, 1999 as amended by the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 and the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, as consulted on 1 October 2026. Forms, fees and procedure are set by the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 as amended from time to time. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.