The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) has issued a public notice warning stakeholders against online platforms that allegedly engage in illegal advertising and solicitation of legal services while offering trademark-related services.

In a public notice dated January 7, 2026, the CGPDTM said that it had taken serious note of several entities advertising and soliciting legal work through digital platforms, a practice prohibited under the Advocates Act, 1961 and the Bar Council of India Rules.

It clarified that while trademarks may be applied for online, the act of advising, representing or soliciting clients for trademark registration constitutes legal practice, which can only be carried out by advocates enrolled under the Advocates Act or by registered trademark agents recognised under the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

According to the IP Office, certain online platforms have been contacting prospective applicants and even clients of other practitioners, offering “assured” or “end-to-end” trademark registration services through websites and digital advertisements. Such conduct, the notice said, amounts to impermissible solicitation of legal services.

The public notice names several platforms that are allegedly engaged in such activities, including onlinelegalindia.com, indiafilings.com, corpbiz.io, cleartax.in, trademarkia.in, legalwiz.in, alonika.in, startupwala.com and applytrademark.co.in.

The IP Office also clarified that trademark applications may be filed either by the applicant directly or through duly authorised advocates or registered agents and that the availability of an online filing system does not dilute professional eligibility requirements.

Stating that the notice was issued in the larger public interest, the CGPDTM said that the objective was to maintain ethical standards in intellectual property practice and to prevent members of the public from being misled into engaging unauthorised service providers.

[Read Notice]