Inexplicably huge amount abandonment of Trademark Application
Earlier this week we had reported that the Indian Trade Marks Registry, after abandoning a huge number of applications, had given further opportunity by releasing a public notice dated April 4th, 2016 to all the parties who have been adversely affected by it. By the said notice, Mr. Om Prakash Gupta, Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, had sought representations from applicants whose applications have been erroneously deemed as abandoned, the deadline for which was set on April 30, 2016.
However, on April 5th, 2016, a writ petition was filed by the Intellectual Property Attorneys Association & Others in which, Honorable Justice Mr. Manmohan of the Delhi High Court, after hearing the contentions from both the sides and noticing the startling figures of disposal within a very short period of time, stayed the orders of abandonment passed by the Trade Mark office on or after March 20th, 2016. The learned Judge further added that the Office shall not treat any Trademark application as abandoned without proper notice to an affected party as provided under Sections 21, 128, and 132 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.
Total number of disposals from March 20 to the April 5, 2016 are –
The said copy of the order dated April 5, 2016 can be accessed here