Your brand travels faster than your filing. Lock the name, the look and the rights for handicraft clusters and artisan cooperatives before someone else does.
GI tag plus collective and cooperative trademark filings for Indian handicraft clusters and artisan communities, protecting region-linked craft from machine-made copies.
The Trade Marks Act, 1999 covers handicraft clusters and artisan cooperatives across Class 20 (handicraft goods), Class 24 (textile crafts) and Class 35 (craft retail). A single Form TM-A filed across the right classes protects the brand for ₹4,500 per class for individuals, DPIIT-recognised startups and Udyam MSMEs, and ₹9,000 per class for companies and LLPs, and a pre-filing search catches conflicts before they cost you.
Three filings cover most of the IP risk on day one. Each is a standalone service and each links to a deeper walkthrough.
Three patterns repeat across the briefs that reach our desk:
The common thread: the brand is the business, and the brand is unprotected until it sits on the register. Trademark registration is what converts reputation into an enforceable asset.
The minimum filing for handicraft clusters and artisan cooperatives centres on Class 20 (handicraft goods), Class 24 (textile crafts) and Class 35 (craft retail). File in the class you sell in today and the one you will sell in next year.
Government trademark fees are ₹4,500 per class for individuals, DPIIT-recognised startups and Udyam MSMEs, and ₹9,000 per class for companies and LLPs. The Cadila v. Cadila Healthcare deceptive-similarity test from the Supreme Court applies here too: a name that looks or sounds like an existing mark in your class can be blocked under Section 11.
A craft cluster sold for generations under a regional name but never sought a GI. A trader registered a similar mark and the artisans found their own heritage name fenced off.
The wordmark is the obvious filing. The look, the underlying works and the know-how are separate questions.
Scaling handicraft clusters and artisan cooperatives this quarter? File the trademark before you go to market.
WhatsApp our team →Primarily Class 20, with Class 20, Class 24, Class 35 covering the full product and channel range. File the class you sell in today and the one you will sell in next year.
No. Licences such as FSSAI, AYUSH, IRDAI or RBI approvals govern how you operate; they give you no right over the brand name. Brand protection comes only from a trademark registration under the Trade Marks Act, 1999.
Filing takes about 48 hours once documents are ready. The certificate typically arrives 18 to 24 months later if there is no objection or opposition. You can use the ™ symbol from filing day.
Government fees are ₹4,500 per class for individuals, DPIIT-recognised startups and Udyam MSMEs, and ₹9,000 per class for companies and LLPs. A single-class filing through IPForte is typically ₹7,000 to ₹12,000 all-in, professional fees included.
The IPForte workflows most engaged by businesses in this sector.