Kashmere Gate is India's largest spare-parts market. In a trade where spurious parts are the daily reality, a registered brand is what separates your genuine stock from the copy across the lane.
Kashmere Gate is the largest automotive spare-parts market in India — filters, bearings, clutch plates, brake components, electricals, gaskets and body parts move through it in enormous volume, for cars, commercial vehicles and two-wheelers alike. In a market this size, the brand printed on the box is often the only reliable signal that a part is genuine, which is exactly why spurious and counterfeit parts cluster around names that sell.
Auto-parts brands sit primarily in Class 12 (vehicles and their parts — brakes, clutches, suspension, body parts), with Class 7 for machine parts such as engine components, pumps and filters that are treated as machinery, and Class 35 for the trading, distribution and import-export business itself. Kashmere Gate and Mori Gate traders file under the Delhi office, so begin with a careful trademark search and register through Form TM-A. Distributors across Delhi and Faridabad follow the same path.
Three filings cover most of the IP risk on day one. Each is a standalone service and each links to a deeper walkthrough.
The class you need depends on what the part is, not just what vehicle it fits. Class 12 covers vehicles and their structural parts — brake systems, clutches, suspension, shock absorbers, body panels, mirrors, seats and tyres. Class 7 covers parts treated as machinery: engine components, fuel and oil pumps, filters, bearings, pistons and valves. A trader who deals across the board usually files in both, because a Class 12 registration will not automatically cover an engine-machinery item and vice versa.
If your real business is buying and distributing rather than manufacturing — the classic Kashmere Gate wholesale model — you also want Class 35 for the retail, wholesale and import-export trade. Getting this split right the first time saves an expensive refile later; use the class finder to map your catalogue and the cost calculator to price a multi-class application.
Counterfeit and spurious spares are the defining risk of this trade, and they are a genuine safety issue when it is a brake pad or a steering component. But a trader can only act against a fake if it owns the name being faked. A registered mark turns 'someone is copying us' into an enforceable right — the basis for cease-and-desist notices and, where needed, trademark litigation and seizures.
India is first-to-file, so priority goes to whoever registers, not whoever has sold the longest. A common pattern we see in the parts trade: a family business builds a trusted aftermarket brand over a decade, never files it, and then finds a copycat has registered a near-identical name and is riding the goodwill legally. Filing the word mark and the logo as separate applications closes that gap, and a periodic IP audit confirms the brand sits with the trading entity rather than a personal name on an old invoice.
There is a crucial line in this business between your brand and an OEM part number. Listing a genuine cross-reference — 'fits OEM part 12345' — is generally acceptable descriptive use. But adopting an OEM's brand name, logo or trade dress to make your part look like the original is infringement, and manufacturers pursue it hard. The safe route for an aftermarket seller is to build a distinctive house brand of your own and register it, so buyers recognise your quality rather than a borrowed name.
Packaging matters as much as the name. If your box design, colour scheme and label layout are original and non-functional, protect the look through a registered design and the artwork through copyright. Together, the word mark, the logo, the packaging design and the artwork make a lookalike much easier to stop. Distributor and stockist relationships should run on written contracts so a channel partner cannot register your brand behind your back.
The cheapest place to stop a copycat is before it registers. Every accepted application is advertised in the Trade Marks Journal, and you then have a four-month window to file an opposition. A standing watch service flags deceptively similar Class 12 and Class 7 filings automatically, so a lookalike does not slip through to registration while you are busy running the counter.
If the Registry raises a Section 9 or Section 11 objection on your own application — common in crowded parts classes — a well-argued objection reply usually clears it. And when a genuine brand grows, the register itself becomes an asset: it can be assigned in a business sale or licensed to regional distributors under quality control. For the wider wholesale context, our Delhi MSME wholesalers guide and the 2026 Delhi guide walk through the full sequence.
In a safety-sensitive trade, a customer who buys a spurious part under a copied brand blames your name. A registration lets you separate your genuine stock from the copy, act against the counterfeiter, and protect the reputation the whole business runs on.
Running an aftermarket parts brand out of Kashmere Gate? Register Class 12 + Class 35, then put a Journal watch on it so copycats never reach the register.
WhatsApp our team →Vehicles and their structural parts — brakes, clutches, suspension, body panels — sit in Class 12. Parts treated as machinery, such as engine components, pumps and filters, sit in Class 7. Add Class 35 if you trade or wholesale, and use the class finder to map your catalogue.
Referencing a genuine cross-reference such as 'fits OEM part 12345' is generally acceptable descriptive use. Adopting the OEM's brand name, logo or trade dress is infringement. Build and register a distinctive house brand instead, and protect original packaging via a registered design.
If you own the registered trademark, you can pursue trademark litigation and support seizures. Without registration you cannot act. A Journal watch also lets you file an opposition against lookalike applications before they register.
Start with a trademark search, file the word mark and logo in Class 12 and Class 35 through Form TM-A, and put a watch in place. The Delhi MSME wholesalers guide covers the full sequence.