What is Indian Trademarks Act?
Trademarks Act India- The trade marks law in India prior to 1940 was based on the common law system, which was followed in England before the enactment of the first Registration Act, 1875. The first statutory law dealing with trade marks in India was the Trade Marks Act, 1940 which introduced a machinery for the registration and statutory protection of trade marks in India.
The Act of 1940 was replaced by the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 which consolidated the provisions related to trademarks contained in other statutes such as the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 and the Sea Customs Act, 1878.
EVOLUTION OF TRADEMARKS ACT, 1999
The first set of regulation governing trademark in India was passed in the year 1940. Later on in view of increased trade and commerce in India, the Legislature replaced the Act of 1940 with Trademark and Merchandise Act, 1958. The 1958 Act was passed with the objective to provide for a robust set of laws for better protection and it also consolidated provisions in relation to trademarks in other Statutes i.e. Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, and the Sea Customs Act.
The Trademark and Merchandise Act, 1958 was later replaced by the Trademark Act, 1999 with a view to conform with requirements of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The act of 1999 came into force w.e.f. September 15, 2003 vide notification in the official gazette. The Act provides for registration of service trademarks and collective trademarks, for extraordinary protection to well-known marks categorized as well- known marks etc. Later the Trademarks Act was amended in the year 2010 to provide for the Special Provisions Relating to Protection of Trademarks through International Registration under the Madrid Protocol.
The Trademark Act in India can be accessed here.
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