DSC for Patent and Trademark Filing
IP India filings are made online and signed. Whose name the certificate is in decides whose application it is.
The applicant signs, or their agent does
Trademark and patent applications are filed on the IP India portal and signed digitally. The certificate belongs either to the applicant — you, or your company — or to the registered agent or attorney filing on your behalf.
This matters more than it looks. The application records who the applicant is, and a trademark registered in an individual's name when the business intended to own it is a problem to unwind later, particularly if the business is later sold or restructured. Decide who should own the mark before filing, not after it is registered.
For an ongoing matter — an objection reply, a renewal, an opposition — the certificate needs to be consistent with the original filing. A change of signatory mid-matter is possible but it is paperwork you would rather avoid.
How it works and how fast
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Tell us the portal | We confirm individual or organisation, and whether encryption is needed |
| 2. Documents | PAN, Aadhaar, photo, email and mobile; organisation certificates also need entity proof and an authorisation letter |
| 3. Video KYC | A two-minute recorded verification, required by the certifying authority |
| 4. Issue | Usually the same day, often within about two hours |
| 5. Token | Loaded onto a USB crypto token, collected in Bhopal or couriered |
A Class 3 certificate is not tied to one portal. Registering it against each portal you use is a separate step, but you buy the certificate once.
What goes wrong
- Filing in the wrong applicant's name. The most consequential mistake on this page, and it is not a certificate problem — it is a decision made carelessly at filing time.
- Certificate expiring mid-prosecution. Trademark matters run for a year or more. A one-year certificate will not see it through.
- Name mismatch with the applicant record. The portal checks.
- Missing the objection window because nobody was watching. Not a certificate issue, but the most common way applications die. See our page on trademark objection replies.
Written 5 September 2026. Government requirements and portal behaviour change — message us to confirm before you rely on any date or figure here.
Common questions
Send us your case
Tell us whether the applicant is you personally or the business. That decision is worth getting right before anything is filed.
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Other certificate questions people arrive with, and the portals they need one for.