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INTRODUCTION

India a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Since May 1, 1975, India has become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1 January 1995 and a member of GATT since 8 July 1948.

Intellectual property legislation includes The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Designs Act, 2000 (Notification) (2014), The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 (2012), The Trade Marks (Amendment) Act, 2010 (2010), The Competition (Amendment) Act, 2009 (2009), The Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007 (2007), Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005 (Act No. 15 of 2005) (2005), The Patents Act, 1970 (as amended up to Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005) (2005), The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000 (2004), The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 (2003), The Trade Marks Act, 1999 (2003), Patents (Amendment) Act, 2002 (2002), Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (as amended up to the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Act, 2002) (2002), Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 (2001), The Designs Act, 2000 (2000), Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1999 (Act No. 49 of 1999) (1999), Patents (Amendment) Act, 1999 (1999), Copyright Act, 1957 (as consolidated up to Act No. 49 of 1999) (1999), Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1994 (1994).

The Indian Intellectual property Office is administered by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDTM). This is a subordinate office of the Government of India and administers the Indian law of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks.

AFFILIATIONS

Bodies: World Intellectual Property Organization, World Trade Organization.

 

Conventions: The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT), the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Country Information

 Capital: New Delhi
 Largest city: Mumbai
 Official languages: Hindi and English
 Government: Federal parliamentary constitutional socialist republic
 Currency: Indian rupee (INR) (1$ = 63.70 INR)

MORE ABOUT TRADEMARKS IN INDIA

LAWS

Indian Trademark Law      Download

The Indian Intellectual property Office is administered by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDTM). This is a subordinate office of the Government of India and administers the Indian law of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks

FOLLOWING INDICATIONS MAY BE USED AS TRADEMARKS IN INDIA

    • Word marks
    • Names
    • Numbers
    • Signatures
    • Letters
    • Symbols
    • Pictures
    • Inscriptions
    • Combination of all of the above

CLASSIFICATION

10th edition – consists of 45 classes

TRADEMARK SUMMARY

    • Multi-class filing system is applied
    • India is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property; hence an applicant can claim priority of up to 6 months as per the convention
    • Multi-class filing system is allowed
    • Appeal can be filed to review the objected marks within one month of receipt of notice
    • Accepted trademarks are published in the Trademark Journal upon grant of fee
    • Opposition period is 4 months from the date of publication
    • The assignment of a trademark or service mark can be recorded while the mark is pending for registration in the country.
    • Assignment can be made in respect of either all goods or services

PROTECTION TERM

    • 10 years from filing date and renewable for like periods
    • Trademark could be renewed anytime during the last 6 months of the protection period
    • A grace period of 6 months from the date of expiry is allowed, but with the penalty

RIGHTS OF TRADEMARK OWNERS

Trademarks may be:

    • Transferred in whole or in part
    • Inherited
    • Assigned and licensed.
    • Mortgaged and creditors may seize such trademarks belonging to their debtors.
    • Licensed to natural or legal persons
    • Prevented from unauthorized usage by third parties
    • The subject of appropriate redressal from a court of law upon infringement

TRADEMARK USAGE IN INDIA

It is not compulsory to use the mark for filing applications or maintaining the registration in force. Continuous usage of the mark for 5 years post registration is necessary to avoid 3rd party claims on the mark.

Unauthorized use of a trademark registered under the law or an imitation of such trademark applied on goods and services of the same class, or sale, storing for the purpose of sale, or exhibiting for sale of goods and services bearing a counterfeited mark, or using a mark duly registered under the law by another person to serve the purpose of unauthorized promotion of goods or services of the same class are offenses punishable under the law

REQUISITES FOR TRADEMARK’S SERVICES

Trademark / Service Mark Applications

    • Power of attorney simply signed by the applicant (no legalization or notarization is required). For Indian clients, power of attorney to be executed in 100 Rs. stamp paper and signed by the applicant. The power of attorney is not required at the time of lodging the application and can be submitted later with no additional cost.
    • The name, address and nationality of the applicant. If the applicant is a partnership firm, the names of all the partners. Also mention whether any minor is a partner.
    • If the applicant is a company, the country or state of incorporation.
    • A list of goods and/or services for which registration is required.
    • Soft copy of the trademark to be registered.
    • If the mark contains or consists of non-English words, a translation of those words into English is required.
    • If the application is to claim priority from an earlier filed convention application, details of that application is also required (application number, filing date, country and goods/services). A certified priority document or its duly notarized copy is to be submitted. If the certificate is not in English, a certified/notarized English translation is also required. If it is not readily available, the application can be filed based on the basic application number, date of the application and country of the application. A copy of the priority document can be submitted within 1 month from the filing date of the application.
    • Date of first use of the trademark in India, if at all used

Renewal of Trademark / Service Mark Registrations

    • Power of attorney simply signed by the applicant (no legalization or notarization is required). For Indian clients, power of attorney to be executed in 100 Rs. stamp paper and signed by the applicant. The power of attorney is not required at the time of lodging the application and can be submitted later with no additional cost.
    • The name, address and nationality of the applicant and the nature of its business
    • The trademark’s filing number.
    • Scanned copy of the original registration certificate (just for verification purpose)

Registered user/ licensee Agreement Application

    • An authenticated license agreement in writing signed by the concerned parties and legalized with the Consulate of India.
    • Simply signed power attorney by the licensee
    • Legalized certificate of incorporation or extract from the commercial register of the registered user company

Change of Name and Address Application

    • A power of attorney in the new name and/ or address
    • A legal certificate duly attested, mentioning the changes to be done

Assignments Applications

    • A power of attorney by the assignee and stamped with the company’s stamp
    • A deed of assignment signed by both parties, authenticated, notarized and legalized with the Consulate of India
  • A legalized copy of the certificate of incorporation or any equivalent document of the assignee company.

PATENT INTRODUCTION & REQUIREMENTS

LAWS

Indian Patent Law      Download

PATENT SUMMARY

    • Under the Paris Convention, an application should be filed in India within 12 months from the date of the basic application filed in the home country of the applicant
    • Once an application is accepted, it would be granted a patent and published in the Official Journal of the Patent Office.
    • There are provisions for both pre-grant and post-grant opposition

PROTECTION TERM

    • 20 years from the date of filing the application

ANNUITIES

    • Due annually on the anniversary of the filing date

REQUIREMENTS

For Filing the Patent Application:

ORDINARY APPLICATION

    • Name, Address and Nationality of applicant(s)
    • Name, Address and Nationality of inventor(s)
    • Complete Specification [or provisional specification if Provisional Application needs to be filed]
    • Description, Claims, Abstract & Drawings, if any
    • Details of all corresponding foreign applications, including application number, date of filing and current status

CONVENTION APPLICATION

    • Name, Address and Nationality of applicant(s)
    • Name, Address and Nationality of inventor(s)
    • Complete Specification including Description, Claims, Abstract & Drawings, if any
    • Priority claim details (Priority date, Country and Application number) – Certified copy of priority document (if not filed at International Bureau) – Verified English translation of priority document (may submit later)
    • Details of all corresponding foreign applications, including application number, date of filing and current status

PCT NATIONAL PHASE APPLICATION IN INDIA

    • Name, Address and Nationality of applicant(s)
    • Name, Address and Nationality of inventor(s)
    • Complete Specification including Claims, Abstract & Drawings, if any (If the PCT application is in a language other than English, a verified English translation of the PCT specification is required).
    • PCT Application Details (International Application Number & Date)
    • Details of Priority application (if applicable)
      1. Priority date, Country and Application number
      2. Certified copy of priority document (if not filed at International Bureau)
      3. Verified English translation of priority document (can be filed later)
    • Details of all corresponding foreign applications, including application number, date of filing and current status

For Change of Name or Address:

    • A simply signed Power of Attorney.
    • A notarized copy of the change of name certificate issued by the competent authority.

For Assignment:

    • A simply signed Power of Attorney.
    • Patent application number and a copy of the patent certificate in case of patents granted.
    • A notarized copy of the assignment deed signed by the assignor and the assignee.
  • Name, address, nationality and profession or nature of business of the assignee.

COPYRIGHTS INTRODUCTION & REQUIREMENTS – INDIA

LAWS

Indian Copyrights Law      Download

SUMMARY

The Copyright Act of 1957 governs the protection of copyright in India. Protection covers original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, cinematograph films and sound recording.

Copyright registration can be obtained for original works of art, literature, books, music, films, CDs and computer programs. The law provides protection irrespective of the value, type, manner of expression or purpose of the work. The author may assign the rights granted to him subject to prescribed terms and conditions.

Copyright owners have the exclusive right to either do or authorize the doing of any of the following:

    • To reproduce the work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic means
    • To issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in publication
    • To perform the work in public, or communicate it to the public to make any translation or adaptation of the work
    • To sell or give on hire, or offer for sale or hire a copy regardless of whether such copy has been sold or given on hire on earlier occasions.

Note: Copyright owners from countries that are party to the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention do not require registration.

DURATION

In general, the duration is for 60 years plus life time of the author/artist who created the work

COPYRIGHT IS PROTECTED FOR;

    • Literary works such as books, literature, technical drawings, computer programs, computer databases
    • Musical works or Audio Visual work
    • Artistic works including logos, photographs, pictures

INFRINGEMENTS & PENALTIES

Infringement of copyright is both a civil and criminal offence. A copyright owner can seek remedies from the court

REQUIREMENTS FOR FILING

For written material or other copyrightable works:

    • A simply signed Power of Attorney
    • Four copies of the work.
    • A document supporting the right of the applicant in the work, in the event the applicant is not the author.
    • Name, address and nationality of the applicant.
    • Name, address and nationality of the author; if the author is deceased, the date of his decease.
    • Copies of the notice of the application which has been sent to every person who has any interest in the subject matter of the copyright.
    • Whether the work is published or not; if published, year and country of first publication; name, address and nationality of the publisher; years and countries of subsequent publications if any, as well as names, addresses and nationalities of the publishers.
    • Title, language and brief description of the work.
  • Names, addresses and nationalities of the owners of the various rights comprising the copyright in the work and the extent of rights held by each, together with the particulars of assignments and licenses, if any.