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Trademark Act At 25: A Reflection On Its Impact On Indian Economy

As the Indian Trademark Act of 1999 celebrates its 25th anniversary, the country stands as a global leader in brand protection with over 3.2 million trademarks registered

Trademark Act At 25: A Reflection On Its Impact On Indian Economy

Trademark Act At 25: A Reflection On Its Impact On Indian Economy
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28 Dec 2024 9:50 AM IST

Key sectors like health, agriculture, and clothing have driven the growth, reflecting a thriving ecosystem for intellectual property. The Act's evolution—streamlining procedures, em-bracing international protocols, and fostering innovation—has fortified its relevance

Trademarks are the foundation of any trade and business. We are all born with names which make us distinct, and we need to live with it, and some names make a mark forever. So, the same applies to businesses which must go with a name for its brand and the products and ser-vices which it must sell to the consumers. To make it simple for the readers, A trademark is a type of intellectual property that helps to protect one’s brand by distinguishing it from their competitors. It is used to protect the name, logo, colour, shape of goods, or slogan, associated with a product or service from being used by others without permission for any commercial transaction and business interest.

The year 2024 is a milestone year as the Trademarks act of 1999 of India completes its 25 years in action. Today, 90 per cent of the TM filings are done by residents, with key sectors, includ-ing health, agriculture, and clothing leading the way. India's trademark office holds the second-largest number of active registrations worldwide, with over 3.2 million trademarks in force, re-flecting the country's strong position in global brand protection and India emerged as the fourth ranked country in the world for the number of Trademark filings. Close to 5 lakhs applications have been filed in the year 2023-2024.

The main objective of the Trademark Act is to help register trademarks and enforce them in the business by distinguishing products and services from competitors, help in increasing brand awareness and goodwill. It also gives the owner an exclusive right to use the trademark and most importantly it acts as low-cost protection to business owners and service providers.

The fascinating thing about trademarks are that it’s a perpetual form of intellectual property rights and can be renewed every 10 years to keep it alive for time immemorial and create an everlasting impression on the mind of the consumers. The journey of 25 years has been very impressive, with 73 forms to make it to 8 forms for filing till registration. Other striking amendments include expanding the definition of trademark to include shape, packaging, and color combinations, allowing for the registration of trademarks for services, setting up a trade-mark register and giving protection for collective marks for a group or association of people, setting up and also repealing the appellate board, and granting trademark registration in 6-10 months from 2-3 years of granting period.

The silver lining in this silver jubilee has to be of India becoming signatory to the Madrid Pro-tocol on July 8, 2013, which opened the doors for Indian brand owners to file trademarks in foreign countries with one application, one set of fees and one window.

Trademarks litigation also have really increased over the years and interesting cases of Burger King Vs Pune Burger King, Crocodile Vs Lacoste, or the famous Darya Ganj vs Moti Mahal restaurant trademark battle on butter chicken dish. The list can go on and on but, the latest one being the trademark battle of Indigo 6E vs Mahindra EV BE 6e, calling it similar with their call sign 6e and revising it to BE 6. To conclude, the Indian IP office is celebrating brand protection on 30 December 2024 and has called upon all stakeholders, practitioners and brand owners to celebrate the Trademark Act of 25 years and make it glorious by using the logo designed by the IP office to show pride in your brands and brand protection accorded by the Trademark Act of 1999.

Lastly, I believe a business with a good brand name and trademark protection will rise to fame, if else every business will go lame and with no one to blame. Select a name which is distinct and inventive for you to get a trademark registration with the IP office rather than a descriptive, and suggestive names.

(The author is the Head (Legal & IPR) at Resolute Group and the Founder of IPRAS)

Trademarks Intellectual Property Rights Brand Protection Trademark Act of 1999 Trademark Litigation 
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