Du IP Café

The title certainly looks catchy but hold on and read further.. The so called IP practitioners who don't have an iota of understanding of IP Laws have flooded the market and dooming Applicants. Once they manage to file applications somehow, they have no clue how to prosecute further and take it till the registration stage. Applicants become stuck and have nowhere to go under such circumstance as they have already paid for the entire process.   Recently, one such Practitioner got stuck with Section 9(1) objection under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and also had to file TM-M and had no clue what to with TM-M and how the objections are tackled or responded with.  Someone is trying to disrupt the market with provisional patent filing in just Rs. 2000/-. How low can it get, I keep on wondering. Filing a provisional patent application seems a joke for such practitioners as they do not care about inventors and how these inventors hold their inventions close to their heart. Some Patent Agents

Trade Marks registration process in India has seen enormous changes in past 2-3 years. The number of Forms have been reduced from 64 to 8. The examination time has reduced from 2 years to 5 working days - believe it or not but its true and one of the fastest all over the world!   However, the change in law or rules has not impacted some common misconceptions that are prevalent among business owners about the Trade Marks. Thought it would be good to address them here: 1. I don't need to perform search..My Trade Mark is Original in toto Applicants commonly believe that the trade name they thought is distinctive enough and don't see any need to get a search done or to get an opinion from a practitioner. Let me say something unpleasant that the name you want to trademark probably isn’t as original as you think it is, at least not in the eyes of the Trade Marks Registry. Every year, thousands of trademark applications are rejected without refunds because they too closely resembl

Copyright comes with a bundle of rights in India. Even though the registration of Copyright isn't mandatory, it serves as a proof of ownership and/or prima facie evidence before the Court of law during enforcement of such Copyright.  Lot many changes (pleasant changes) in functioning of Copyright registry have been observed in past five years. Digitization of records and process has been on top of all changes.  The Government of India has recently released the Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021 on 30th March 2021. The primary objective of such an amendment is to bring the existing rules in parity with other relevant legislations and at par with technological advancements. Sharing only relevant highlights of the amendment and its effects as below:- 1. Changes concerning the filing of applications for registration of Software Program Copyright: Earlier the Copyright Rules mandated submission of the entire Source Code and Object Code while filing an application for registration of a So