INDIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Safir Anand and Twinky Rampal, Anand and Anand Advocates
Anand and Anand Advocates B-41, Nizamuddin East New Delhi 110013 India
Tel: +91 120 4059 300 Fax: +91 120 4243 056
Email: safir@anandandanand.com Web: www.anandandanand.com
1. Trade Mark and Copyright Law 1.1 Governing Law In India, trade marks are primarily governed by the Trade Marks Act 1999 and the Trade Marks Rules 2017, forming a comprehensive regulatory regime coupled with common law provisions. In addition to the statute, official guidelines issued by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGP - DTM), such as the Trade Marks Manual, court precedents and decisions of the Trade Marks Office (TMO) govern several aspects of trade mark law in the country. Further, the decisions of High Courts are binding on lower courts in their respective jurisdictions and form an important source of trade mark law. There are also ancillary laws which impact trade marks, for example, the Copyright Act 1957, the Companies Act 2013 and, in limited cases, the Designs Act 2000. Copyright is governed by the Copyright Act 1957 and the associated rules. As a common law country, common law rights are recognised in India.
1.2 Conventions and Treaties/Rights of Foreign IP Holders India is a signatory to the Paris Convention on Industrial Property, the WIPO Madrid Agree - ment Concerning the International Registration of Marks 1891 (the “Madrid Agreement”), the WIPO Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agree - ment Concerning the International Registration of Marks 1989 (the “Madrid Protocol”) and the Nairobi Treaty. India further abides by the Nice Agreement on the International Classification of Goods and Services, and the Vienna Classification, estab - lished by the Vienna Agreement. For copyright, predominantly, India is a member of the Berne Convention of 1886, the Universal Copyright Convention of 1952 and the Agree - ment on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of 1995.
2. Trade Mark Ownership, Protection and Rights 2.1 Types of Trade Marks
A “trade mark”, as defined by the Trade Marks Act 1999, is a mark capable of being graphi - cally depicted and capable of differentiating one
175 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook