Beware of fraudsters misrepresenting as trademark office, agents

In the wake of a recent incident encountered by one of my clients who received a payment demand notice from a person claiming to be from a patent and trademark office, I felt it is imperative to discuss a few things right away. Today, my colleague-attorney received a call from one of our clients who stated that they had received a payment demand notice from a patent and trademark office.  We were perplexed and asked our client to forward the communication to us. Upon reviewing the notice, it turned out to be a fake agency misrepresenting as a trademark office, and we counseled our client on this over the phone and through email.  We are not disclosing more information to...

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Perfect time to make post-registration changes in your trademark

Normally, post-registration changes such as assignments, corrections, amendments, etc. happen at snail's pace for several reasons.  To tackle that, our CGPDTM has announced a special drive to dispose post-registration changes. The CGPDTM once again initiates a special drive for disposal of requests for recordal of post registration changes in the registered Trademarks.  This special drive will be conducted during the months of December 2013 and January 2014. Post-registration changes may include change in address, adding or removing proprietors, etc. The notification available on IPIndia Website reads, "All the requests for recordal of post registration changes made on forms TM-17, 19,20,23, 24, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 42, 43 or 50 shall be taken up for disposal by the appropriate offices, in order...

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Silly: Company sues WB for using its trademark in movie

If you are one of those who watched the movie, The Dark Knight Rises released in 2012, you will find this post a bit interesting and be able to understand the rationale behind this blog. Usual blah blah Trademark and other kinds of intellectual property are not new to India, but India is yet to witness some of the silliest trademark trolls in the upcoming days.  A more common objective for business owners and start-ups to get their marks registered is to mainly use the trademark symbols TM and R and to prevent others from using it.  The concept of monetizing is still in its infancy and is not popular or amusing for businesses. No claim can really be silly...

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Bad faith trademark registrations – Don’t sit on it!

Registering a trademark in bad faith The literal meaning of bad faith is, “intent to deceive or mislead another to gain some advantage; dishonesty or fraud in a transaction.”  It is an undisputed fact that intellectual property is a negative right and is built on pride and reputation. There are always wrongdoers and law breakers who try to capitalize on reputation and goodwill of a popular trademark for their own benefits. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="369"] Source: http://cdn.cultofmac.com[/caption] Trademark Legal Provisions Section 11(10)(ii) and Section 47(1)(a) specifically deal with trademark registrations under bad faith and or without bona fide intention to use the mark. Section 11(10)(ii) - While considering an application for registration of a trade mark and opposition filed in...

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Incomplete Protection is No Protection– Are you conservative in trademark registration?

I want 100% Protection in one application! – Are you trying to make a fortune out of me? Every trademark lawyer in his career would have faced these statements and questions a numerous times from his clients, “I do not want to spend too much on trademark registration” “Can’t I just protect my mark in one application?”, “Why do you want me to file separate applications?” A client’s state of mind is quite obvious here and perfectly understandable. When approached by our clients, we normally explain them all the legal options available to ensure complete protection. For example, for a food product (FMCG), we normally suggest that separate applications be filed for trade dress, word mark, etc. to get complete...

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Indian Trademark Registry launches “TM Dashboard”

New Dashboard CGPDTM launches a Dynamic Trademark Utility which will allow the public to see on real time basis the detail of Examinations of trademark applications, show cause hearings, publications in the trademark journal, registrations of trademarks, otherwise disposal of applications (i.e. by way of abandonment, refusal etc.) doneandother notices issued month-wise or date-wise. Possibly, increasing number of RTI applications could be one of the main reasons behind this implementation, among other things.  Regardless, this is a good move for stakeholders, in particular trademark attorneys and agents, who can check the status of their applications through the new Dash Board. However, the dashboard is not rather helpful if not useful when compared to foreign trademark offices, especially IPO, USPTO, IP...

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