By Lucy Rana & Ananyaa Banerjee
The Trade Marks Registry has launched a Special Drive for long-pending opposition matters in India, and every opposition pending up to 2010 is now scheduled for a final in person hearing. The Public Notice dated November 02, 2026 states that these hearings will be held at the jurisdictional Trade Marks Registry Offices, with individual notices going out by registered post, while providing a list of matters to be listed. This article explains what the notice says, who is affected and how Indian and overseas trademark owners can prepare.
Why the Registry is clearing old Oppositions
Public Notice No. CG/F/CGPDTM/DL-11/4992, issued by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, places the exercise within the Swachhata Abhiyan. The stated purpose is to ensure clean, efficient and accountable governance by eliminating administrative backlogs. The Registry has run drives of this kind before, with focus on matters settled. The present drive differs in one important respect: it lists the oppositions themselves for final hearing.
Why the Hearings are Physical
The notice explains that many applications and oppositions from before 2010 do not have an updated email address, contact number or other credentials on record. Virtual hearings are not feasible for such matters, so the Registry has opted for in-person hearings in the interest of justice.
What the Public Notice says
The notice is short, and its operative content can be summarised in five points:
- All opposition proceedings pending up to 2010, across all Trade Marks Registry jurisdictions, are scheduled for final hearings.
- Hearings will be physical, at the respective jurisdictional Trade Marks Registry offices.
- Individual hearing notices stating the exact date, time, venue and bench are being dispatched by registered post to each party’s registered address of service.
- These will not be granted except in exceptional circumstances, and a rescheduled date cannot exceed seven days from the original date.
- Attending parties must bring self-attested physical copies of relevant documents, pleadings, powers of attorney and evidence, as originally filed with the Registry.
How this sits alongside the August 31, 2026 Drive
The Registry issued a separate notice on August 31, 2026 (Ref. TMR/Public Notice/2026/4546) for oppositions that parties wish to settle through withdrawals, with hearings on working Fridays until December 2026. We discussed it here: https://ssrana.in/articles/weekly-trademark-opposition-files-disposal-india-from-august-till-december-2026/. The November 02, 2026 notice does not, on its face, refer to the earlier one. Parties with pre-2010 oppositions should therefore read both notices together, confirm with the Registry which track a given file is on, and avoid assuming that one displaces the other.
What the Notice does not say
It does not state hearing dates, which are left to the individual notices. It does not set out the consequence of non-appearance, which is assumed to be ex-parte orders or orders on merits of the case as the hearings are final hearings.
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