Starting a new business can be a daunting experience and new entrepreneurs find themselves having to deal with several competing responsibilities and tasks at the same time.
Intellectual Property (“IP”) protection is one of those tasks and it is often ignored by start-ups. This is largely due to misconceptions in relation to the process of IP registration
The Trademarks Act, 1999 (“Act”), defines a ‘trademark’ as being a mark that is capable of (i) being represented graphically; and (ii) distinguishing the goods and services of one person from those of others.
Therefore, any mark that can be represented in a graphical form and can be used to identify the source of goods or services can be registered as a trademark under Indian law.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (“CCPA”) is a body that has been established under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 to safeguard, advance, and uphold consumer rights.
On 9th June, 2022, the CCPA issued guidelines,
The Trade Marks Act, 1999 (“Act”) gives the owner of a trademark the power to transfer ownership of their trademark to any person and receive consideration for such assignment. This power extends to registered and unregistered trademarks.
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Well, Shakespeare obviously hadn’t heard of trademark law!
Protecting the brand value and reputation associated with the name that you choose for your company is becoming increasingly important in today’s world. After spending time and money towards marketing your brand, it’s disheartening and often impractical to have to start the process all over again.
The Central Government’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry established the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (“IPAB”) on 15th September, 2003, to hear appeals against the decisions passed by the Registrars under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. At a later stage, the IPAB was also given the power to hear matters under the Patents Act 1970, Copyright Act 1957 and Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act (Plant Varieties Act).
