International Application for Trademark in India

International Application for Trademark in India – A perspective

Indian Government has shown some good steps in field of the Trademark, which has not only contributed in Global Presence of marks registered in India but also open door to make international application by Indian residents.

Before elaborating the steps of Indian Government, it is necessary to understand the international scenario for making international application for Trademark.

The system of international registration of marks is governed by the treaties:

1.      Paris Convention dated 20^th March, 1983

2.       Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, which dates from 1891, and

3.      Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement, which was adopted in 1989, entered into force on December 1, 1995, and came into operation on April 1, 1996.

India is one of the signatory countries to the Paris Convention administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). India has become signatory of the Paris Convention as on 07^th December, 1998.

Further, on 8th July, 2013, the Madrid Protocol notified in India. Now, the person domiciled in India can file the international application with the WIPO.  Under the Madrid Protocol, a mark can be protected in many jurisdictions by filing an application for international registration. Such application is presented to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization at Geneva, through the office of origin i.e. the trademark office of the applicant.

Madrid Protocol and it’s advantages

Indian businessperson can now mark its global presence under Madrid Protocol. Keeping in view the Indian scenario there are manifold advantages as follows:

(a) International Recognition:  Trademark Application  made under the Madrid Protocol will get recognition  and protection all over the  world and till date almost all the countries are the members to the Madrid Protocol.

(b) Expedient and Cost effective: An applicant, being Indian national, can electronically file and international application and through one application it can get it’s mark registered in various countries. Obviously the country will cover only those countries who are the member of the Madrid Agreement.

(c) Easy Process: Instead of filing application in each and every member country to the Protocol now a single application is required to be submitted. Further, the Madrid Protocol system is much easy and flexible.

(d) No need of different Trademark Attorney in Different Countries: As per the provisions of the Protocol, now, the Applicant of the Trademark can file the international Trademark through its Attorney in India only. There is no requirement to engage separate counsels in each and every country.

Lacunae in respect of System:

As of now, Indian general public is not much Intellectual Property savvy. In order to implement the system in effective manner the government needs to carry on the Intellectual Property awareness programs. It will disperse the knowledge about the Intellectual Property Rights among the people of India and they will become much conscious about the same.

Madrid Protocol is a very effective system, however, it is difficult to say that infrastructure of India  supports the Madrid System or not in effective manner. As of now there are already a large number of cases are pending before the IPR department and it takes a long-time in the registration of the same. Although due to the technological updation the department is disposing off the cases in much effective manner. But how the Indian Intellect will adopt this Protocol will be a good thing to observe.

Disclaimer: The contents mentioned above is based upon the individual analysis of the author. Author or any of its associates shall not be liable for any damages, of whatsoever in nature, caused due to any person acting solely on behalf of this article.