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MODULE 4: COPYRIGHTS AND RELATED RIGHTS AND

TRADEMARKS

Syllabus

Copyrights and Related Rights: Classes of Copyrights, Criteria for Copyright, Ownership of
Copyright, Copyrights of the Author, Copyright Infringements, Copyright Infringement is a
Criminal Offence, Copyright Infringement is a Cognizable Offence, Fair Use Doctrine,
Copyrights and Internet, Non-Copyright Work, Copyright Registration, Judicial Powers of the
Registrar of Copyrights, Fee Structure, Copyright Symbol, Validity of Copyright, Copyright
Profile of India, Copyright and the word ‗Publish, Transfer of Copyrights to a Publisher,
Copyrights and the Word ‗Adaptation‘, Copyrights and the Word ‗Indian Work‘, Joint
Authorship, Copyright Society, Copyright Board, Copyright Enforcement Advisory Council
(CEAC), International Copyright Agreements, Conventions and Treaties, Interesting Copyrights
Cases.

Trademarks: Eligibility Criteria, Who Can Apply for a Trademark, Acts and Laws, Designation
of Trademark Symbols, Classification of Trademarks, Registration of a Trademark is Not
Compulsory, Validity of Trademark, and Types of Trademark Registered in India, Trademark
Registry, and Process for Trademarks Registration, Prior Art Search, and Famous Case Law:
Coca-Cola Company vs. Bisleri International Pvt. Ltd.

COPYRIGHTS AND RELATED RIGHTS

• Copyrights refer to the legal rights provided by law to the original creator of the work in
the fields of literature and computer software.
• The Related Rights encompass the work in the fields of dramatics, sound recording,
film/video recordings, paintings, architecture, etc.
• Copyrights and Related Rights are one of the categories of IP and governed by the
Copyright Act, 1957 of India.
• This Act provides rights of reproduction, communication to the masses, adaptation and
translation of the work.

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CLASSES OF COPYRIGHTS

• Literature: Books, Essays, Research articles, Oral speeches, Lectures, Compilations,

Computer programs, Software, Databases.
• Dramatics: Screenplays, Dramas.
• Sound Recordings: Recording of sounds regardless of the medium on which such
recording is made e.g. a Phonogram and a CD-ROM.
• Artistic: Drawing, Painting, Logo, Map, Chart, Photographs, Work of Architecture,
Engravings, and Craftsmanship.
• Musical: Musical notations, excluding any words or any action intended to be sung,
spoken or performed with the music. A musical work need not be written down to enjoy
Copyright protection.
• Cinematograph Film: It is a visual recording performed by any medium, formed
through a process and includes a sound recording. For example, Motion Pictures, TV
Programs, Visual Recording, Sound Recording, etc

CRITERIA FOR COPYRIGHT

• To qualify for Copyright protection, a work must exist in some physical (or tangible)
form.
• The duration of the existence of the physical form may vary from a very short period to
many years.
• Virtually any form of expression which can be viewed or listened to is eligible to qualify
as Copyright.Even hurriedly(quickly) scribbled notes for an impromptu(UNREHERCED)
speech are considered copyrightable material.
• The Copyright work has to be expressed by the creator in his frame of thought. In other
words, the work has to be original i.e. the author created it from independent thinking
void of duplication. This type of work is termed as an Original Work of Authorship
(OWA). It may appear similar to already existing works but should not be the same.
• The original work may lack quality or quantity or aesthetic merit or all these parameters;
still, it will pass the test of copyrightable work.

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• In addition to originality for the work, Copyright protection also requires at least some
creative effort on the part of the author.
• There is no minimum limit for the extent of creativeness. It is a subjective matter. The
minimal level of creativity needed for Copyright protection depends on the judgment of
the evaluator (adjudicated by the Office of Registrar of Copyright).
• As an example, mere changing the dimensions of a book will not be granted Copyright
protection. Similarly, an address book of alphabetically arranged telephone numbers does
not qualify for Copyright protection as it involves a straightforward alphabetical listing of
phone numbers rather than a creative selection of listings.

OWNERSHIP OF COPYRIGHT

The Copyright laws clearly state the ownership of Copyright.

• The person who created the work is considered as the first (original) holder (owner) of
the Copyright.
• In case the author is an employee and has been contracted to do the work by a proprietor
(of the company/firm/society /organization, etc.), the owner of the Copyright shall be the
proprietor.
• The government will be the primary owner of the government work in the absence of any
kind of arrangement.
• The person delivering a speech is the first owner of the Copyright.

To obtain permission to use copyrighted material, a request for the same should be made to the
legal owner (of the copyrighted material), which could be the original author, the legal heir (in
case of the death of the author), publisher, etc. The request must mention the following:

• Title, author and/or editor, and edition.

• Precise material to be used.
• The number of copies.
• The purpose of the material e.g. educational, research, etc.
• Form of distribution e.g. hard copy to classroom, posted on the internet.
• Whether the material is to be sold e.g. as part of a course pack.

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COPYRIGHTS OF THE AUTHOR

• The Copyrights of the creator/author are legally protected under Section 14 of the
Copyright Act, 1957.
• The content (i.e. work) created by the author cannot be used or published by anyone
without the author‗s consent.
• Copyrights provide exclusive rights to the author in the areas of publication, distribution,
and usage. A Copyright owner enjoys two types of rights i.e. Economic Rights (or
Proprietary Rights) and Moral Rights (or Personal Rights).
• Economic Rights are associated with financial benefits accruing from the sale of
copyrights. As per the Act, Copyright owners can authorize or prohibit:
o Reproduction of the work in any form, including printed publications or sound
recordings.
o Distribution of copies of the work.
o Public performance of the work.
o Broadcasting/communicating the work to the public. Translating the work into
other languages.
o Adaptation of the work, such as converting a novel into a screenplay.
• Moral Rights include Right of Paternity and Right of Integrity.
• The Right of Paternity - even if the Copyright has been licensed to another party, the
original author of the work retains the right to claim authorship i.e. the name of the
author/s will remain even though Copyrights have been transferred to another party e.g. a
book publisher.
• The Right of Integrity - the original author has the right to prevent misuse of the work
e.g. alterations/additions/ deletions in work resulting in misrepresentation of the said
work or harming the honor and reputation of the author.
• It is pertinent to mention that for a work, there can be more than one rights holders, for
instance, a musical sound recording has many rights holders, such as the lyricist, music
composer, singer, musicians and sound recorders.

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENTS

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As per the Copyrights Acts, 1957, the following acts are regarded as an infringement of
Copyrights:

• Making copies for sale or hire or selling or letting them for hire without permission.
• Permitting any place for the performance of owned work (in public) where such
performance constitutes an infringement of Copyright.
• Distributing infringing copies for trade or to such an extent to affect the interest of the
owner of the Copyright prejudicially.
• Public exhibition of infringing copies for trade purposes.
• Importation of infringing copies.
• Translating a work without the permission of the owner.

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE

• According to Section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957, if any person knowingly infringes
the Copyright, he qualifies for the criminal offence.
• The punishment awarded for the infringement (of Copyright) is imprisonment for six
months with the minimum fine of ₹ 50,000/-.
• In case of a second and subsequent conviction, the minimum punishment is imprisonment
for one year and a fine of ₹ 1,00,000.
• There is a dedicated IP division to deal with Copyright cases. Also, there is a Copyright
Board constituted by the Central Government in 1958 to adjudicate certain claims about
Copyright.

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS A COGNIZABLE OFFENCE

• A police officer (rank of a sub-inspector or higher) can confiscate the infringed Copyright
material without issuing a warrant and produce the same in the court of law.

FAIR USE DOCTRINE

• As per the rule of law, Copyrighted materials cannot be used by anybody without the
proper consent of the legal owners (of the Copyright).

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• However, limited use of Copyrighted materials for teaching and research purposes is
legally permitted, under the ―Fair Use Doctrine‖, which comprises of the four-part test:
o The character of the use - use of the work is purely educational, non-profit and
personal.
o Nature of the work - The use of work is factual in nature and not imaginative
o Amount of the portion to be used - permission is not needed if only a small
portion of Copyright protected material is to be used. However, this parameter is
debatable now.
o Impact of use on the value of the Copyrighted material - If a small portion of the
work is copied and is not affecting the author‗s economic and moral rights, it will
be excused from the infringement.
• Detailed information on the examples of the Fair Use Doctrine can be accessed from the
official website (http://copyright.gov.in/ exceptions.aspx). A few examples are listed
below:
o Quotation mentioned in the Copyrighted work.
o Reporting of current events in the media, such as newspapers, magazines or
radios/television.
o Reproduction of the work by teachers or scientific researchers.
o Use of any work prepared by the Secretariat of a Legislature.

COPYRIGHTS AND INTERNET

• The twenty-first century is an era of digitization. The Copyrighted data is quickly

transmitted via the internet. This method of data transmission has brought amendments to
the existing Copyright laws.
• One should be careful of Copyright/fair use principles when downloading material from
the internet.
• There is growing concern about the ability to pull Copyrighted material from the internet
without permission. Note that material may have been placed on the internet without the
author‗s permission.

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• In general, posting material on the internet by the Copyright owner gives an internet user
the right to use that material for his personal use, but he cannot use the work for
commercial purposes.
• Electronic distribution of a Copyrighted work should mention the statement that ―This
work is protected by Copyright laws and is provided for educational instruction only.
Any infringing use may be subject to disciplinary action and/or civil or criminal liability
as provided by law‖.
• As per Section 2(o) of the Copyright Act, 1957, Literary Work includes computer
programmes, tables and compilations, including computer databases. It is mandatory to
supply Source Code and Object Code along with the application for registration of
Copyright.

NON-COPY RIGHT WORK.

The works not under the jurisdiction of Copyrights are as follows:

• The ideas, concepts, and principles themselves cannot be protected under Copyright; only
the form in which they are expressed can be copyrighted.
• Facts, such as scientific or historical discoveries, are not copyright protected. Any fact a
person discovers in the course of research cannot be Copyright protected. For example,
an author of a book on ―Buddhism‖ takes ten-fifteen years to gather all the necessary
materials and information for his work. At a great expense, the author travels to various
museums, libraries and excavations sites. However, after the book is published, anyone is
free to use the underlying facts, provided they express the information on their own.
• Copyright does not protect titles, names, slogans, short phrases, short word combinations,
methods, or factual information.
• Certificates are not considered as Copyrightable subject matter as there is not much scope
for creativity.
• Digitally created works and Copyrighted works transformed into a digital format and
placed on the internet are Copyright protected.
• The Copyright registration for a website, as a whole, is not possible. However, different
components/rudiments of a website can be granted Copyright registration

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• If someone swipes your picture/song/video from the internet and uses it for their
purposes, it is a Copyright infringement. By the way - the same is true if you nick some
else‗s material for your purposes.

COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION

• It is not necessary to register a work to claim Copyright. Once a work is created via any
medium, the work receives automatic Copyright safety.
• In other words, there is no formal request to be submitted to the office of the Copyright,
for acquiring Copyright.
• Copyright registration does not confer any rights. It is merely a prima facie proof of an
entry in respect of the work in the Copyright register maintained by the Registrar of
Copyrights.
• The certificate of registration serves as prima facie evidence in a court in cases of
disputes relating to ownership or creation of Copyright, financial matters, transfer of
rights, etc.
• It is advisable that the author of the work registers for Copyright for better legal
protection. In India, Copyrights matters, including Copyright registration, are
administered under the Copyright Act, 1957 and Copyrights Rule, 2013.

JUDICIAL POWERS OF THE REGISTRAR OF COPYRIGHTS

• The Registrar of Copyrights has the powers of a civil court when trying a suit under the
Code of Civil Procedure in respect of the following matters:
o Summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath.
o Requiring the discovery and production of any document.
o Receiving evidence on affidavit.
o Issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents.
o Requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office.
o Any other matters which may be prescribed.
• Usually, it takes around 2-3 months to get the work registered by the Copyright Office.
After applying, there is a mandatory waiting period of 30 days.

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• If any person has any objection to the claim/s made in the application, he can contact the
office of the Registrar of Copyrights.
• After giving an opportunity of hearing to both the parties, the Registrar may decide the
case in favor or against the author of the work. Once the objections (if any) are cleared,
the application is evaluated by the examiners.
• If any doubts/queries are raised, the applicant is given ample time (around 45 days) to
clear these objections.

Fig: Flow chart for the process of Copyright registration

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FEE STRUCTURE

For each work, a separate application form needs to be submitted, along with the requisite fee.
The fee is not reimbursable in case the application for registration is rejected.

Sl. No Particulars Fee in Rs

For an application for registration or Copyright Literary, Dramatic, Musical or
1 500
Artistic work
2 For an application for registration of Copyright in a Cinematograph Film 5000
3 For an application for registration of Copyright in a Sound Recording 2000
Provided that in respect of a Literary or Artistic work which is used or is
4 2000
capable of being used in relation to any goods or services
5 Making any change in Literary, Dramatic, Musical or Artistic work 200
Provided that in respect of a Literary or Artistic work which is used or is
6 1000
capable of being used in relation to any goods or services
For an application for registration of change in particulars of Copyright entered
7 2000
in the Register of Copyrights in respect of Cinematograph Film
For an application for registration of changes in particulars of Copyright entered
8 1000
in the Register of Copyrights in respect of Sound Recording
For an application for prevention of importation of infringing copies per place of
9 1200
entry

COPYRIGHT SYMBOL

It is not necessary to place the Copyright symbol © with your name and year created near your
published or printed materials - but if you do, it‗s easier to nail someone for infringement on
your Copyright if you go to court.

The important things which may be mentioned as a Copyright mark on Copyright creation are:

• The Copyright symbol © (the letter C in a circle), or the word.

• In the case of compilations or derivative works incorporating previously published
material, the year with the date of the first publication of the compilation or derivative

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work should be mentioned. The year date may be omitted for pictorial, graphic, sculptural
work, greeting cards, postcards, stationery, jewellery, dolls and toys.
• The name or the abbreviation by which the name can be recognized of the owner of the
Copyright, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner can be mentioned.
• The elements for sound recordings generally require the same three elements, except the
symbol is ℗ (the letter P in a circle) instead

VALIDITY OF COPYRIGHT

• In general, the validity of Copyright is for 60 years.

• This period starts either from the year after the death of the author (in case of literature,
dramatic, musical and artistic works) or from the date of publication of the work (in case
of cinematograph films, sound recordings, photographs, posthumous publications, works
of government and works of international organisations).

COPYRIGHT PROFILE OF INDIA

• A comparative five years (2015-20) study revealed a gradual increase in the number
Copyright applications in the first four years of the study, with a maximum number of
applications (21,905) recorded in the 2019-20 period
• The number of applications examined was maximum (34,388) in 2017-18.
• However, it tapered down to 22,658 in 2018-19 and 19,460 in 2019- 20.
• A similar trend was observed in the number of Copyright registrations, with a peak
(19,997) observed in 2017-18.

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Fig: Copyrights profile in India 2015-2020

COPYRIGHT AND THE WORD "PUBLISH"

• A work is considered published when it is in the public domain on an unrestricted basis.

For example, a person writes an article called ―Life in Himalayas‖ and distributes it to a
few individuals and/or societies/organizations with a restriction not to disclose the
contents of the article.
• ―Life in Himalayas‖ has not been ―published in the Copyright sense.
• If the author removes the condition of non-disclosure or posts of this article on the
internet (i.e. public domain) it would be considered as published.
• It is to be noted that both published and unpublished works can be registered under
Copyright.

TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHTS TO A PUBLISHER

• The original authors of the Copyrighted work may not have the wherewithal to widely
publicize their work. Usually, they transfer their rights to publishers for financial
benefits, which could be a one-time lump sum amount or royalties or a combination of
the two.

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• However, transferring Copyrights unconditionally to the publishers (or anybody else)

may have some repercussions for the owner of the Copyright. A publisher may prevent
author/s from displaying their articles on the institute‗s websites. The new owner of
Copyright may not even allow the author to revise his work.
• In other instances, a publisher might print an insufficient number of hard copies and also
does not show interest in uploading the soft copy of the work on the internet. Hence, one
must be careful in signing an agreement with the publishers.
• The author may not transfer all the legal rights bestowed upon him as an author. An
agreement may be signed permitting only the print and sale of hard copies by the
publishers while retaining digital rights for the said work.
• An author may also put a time limit for the printing and sale of the books/articles, etc.
Before the digital era, authors used to rely completely on publishers for the dissemination
of their work.
• However, in the internet era, the dependency on publishers has almost diminished.
• Even though the author has completely and exclusively licensed out his work, the
Copyright Act has a provision under ‗termination of transfer‘ to reclaim his Copyright.
Under this provision, certain Copyright agreements can be terminated after 35 years of
the agreement.

COPYRIGHTS AND THE WORD ‘ADAPTATION’

In the world of Copyright, the word Adaptation signifies the creation of a similar work based
upon contemporary work. The Copyright Act defines the following actions as adaptations:

• Transformation of a dramatic work into a non-dramatic work.

• Changing a literary or artistic work into a drama.
• Re-arrangement of a literary or dramatic work.
• Depiction through pictures of a literary or dramatic work.
• The making of a cinematograph film of a literary or dramatic or musical work.

COPYRIGHTS AND THE WORD ‘INDIAN WORK'

'Indian work' means a literary, dramatic or musical work provided

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• The author of the work is an Indian citizen.

• The work is first published in India.
• In the case of an unpublished work, at the time of the making of the work, the author of
the work was a citizen of India.

JOINT AUTHORSHIP

• ‗Work of Joint Authorship‘ means a work produced by the collaboration of two or more
authors in which the contribution of one author is not distinct from the contribution of the
other author or authors.

COPYRIGHT SOCIETY

• Many a time, authors and other owners of Copyrights are either unable or lose track of all
the uses of their work, including the collection of royalties, infringement issues, etc. To
overcome these hurdles, Copyright Societies have cropped up.
• As per Section 33 of the Copyright Act, 1957, a Copyright Society is a registered
collective administration society formed by authors and other owners of the Copyright.
• Society can perform the following functions:
o Keep track of all the rights and infringements related to their clients.
o Issue licenses in respect of the rights administered by the society.
o Collect fees in pursuance of such licenses.
o Distribute such fees among owners of Copyright after making deductions for the
administrative expenses.
• A Copyright Society can be formed by a group of seven or more copyright holders. The
term of registration of a Copyright Society is for five years. The registered Copyright
Societies in India are:
o Society for Copyright Regulation of Indian Producers for Film and Television
(SCRIPT) 135 Continental Building, Dr. A.B. Road, Worli, Mumbai 400 018, (for
cinematograph and television films).

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o The Indian Performing Right Society Limited (IPRSL), 208, Golden Chambers,
2nd Floor, New Andheri Link Road, Andheri (W), Mumbai- 400 058 (for musical
works).
o Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) Flame Proof Equipment Building,
B.39, Off New Link Road, Andheri (West), Mumbai 400 053 (for sound
recordings).

COPYRIGHT BOARD

• The Copyright Board is a regulatory body constituted by the government, to perform

judicial functions as per the Copyright Act of India.
• The Board comprises of a Chairman and members (2-14) to arbitrate on Copyright cases.
The Chairman of the Board is of the level of a judge of a High Court. As per the Act, the
Board has the power to:
o Hear appeals against the orders of the Registrar of Copyrights.
o Hear applications for rectification of entries in the Register of Copyrights.
o Adjudicate upon disputes on the assignment of Copyrights.
o Grant compulsory licenses to publish or republish works (in certain
circumstances).
o Grant compulsory license to produce and publish a translation of a literary or
dramatic work in any language after seven years from the first publication of the
work.
o Hear and decide disputes as to whether a work has been published or about the
date of publication or the term of Copyright of a work in another country.
o Fix rates of royalties in respect of sound recordings under the cover-version
provision.
o Fix the resale share right in original copies of a painting, a sculpture or a drawing
and original manuscripts of a literary or dramatic or musical work.

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COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL (CEAC)

• In 1991, the Government set up a CEAC to review the progress of enforcement of the
Copyright Act periodically and advise the Government regarding measures for improving
the enforcement of the Act.
• The term of the CEAC is three years.
• The CEAC is reconstituted periodically after the expiry of the term.

INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT AGREEMENTS, CONVENTIONS AND TREATIES.

INTERESTING COPYRIGHTS CASES

• Any creative work is not protected and enforced automatically worldwide because
Copyright laws are territorial by nature i.e. Laws are valid only in the country in which
they have been created.
• To secure protection to Indian works in foreign countries, the author needs to apply
separately to each country or through dedicated international Conventions on Copyright
and Neighboring (related) Rights, provided a country is a member of such Conventions.
• India is a member of the following Conventions:
o Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1886.
(https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/).
o Universal Copyright Convention, 1952.
(http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/creativity/creati ve-
industries/copyright/universal-copyright-convention/).
o Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and
Broadcasting Organizations, 1961. (https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/rome/).
o Multilateral Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation of Copyright
Royalties, 1979. (https://treaties.un.org/doc/Treaties/1979/12/19791213%2009-
00%20AM/Ch_XXVIII_01_ap.pdf).
o Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, 1995.
(https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/intel2_e.htm).
• In India, Copyrights of foreign authors, whose countries are members of the Berne
Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1888), Universal Copyright

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Convention (1952) and the TRIPS Agreement (1995) are protected through the
International Copyright Order

TRADEMARK

• In simple language, a Trademark (or Trade Mark) is a unique symbol which is capable of
identifying as well as differentiating products or services of one organization from those
of others.
• The word ‗Mark‘ stands for a sign, design, phrase, slogan, symbol, name, numeral,
devise, or a combination of these.
• Essentially, the Trademark is anything that identifies a brand to a common consumer.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR TRADEMARK

For goods/services to be legally classified as Trademark, they need to pass the following
conditions:

• Distinctiveness - The goods and services for which the protection is sought should
possess enough uniqueness to identify it as a Trademark. It must be capable of
identifying the source of goods or services in the target market.
• Descriptiveness - The Trademark should not be describing the description of the
concerned goods or services. Descriptive marks are unlikely to be protected under
Trademark law. However, descriptive words may be registered if they acquire
―secondary meaning, such as the brand name Apple is used by a USA based
multinational company that manufactures electronic gadgets.
• Similarity to the prior marks - The mark should be unique and should not be having
similarity to the existing marks.

WHO CAN APPLY FOR A TRADEMARK

• Any person who is a proprietor of the Trademark is eligible to apply for registration of
Trademark.

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• The mark can be filed collectively by two or more applicants and for that purpose,
support documents need to be submitted.
• An organization or association can file for the collective mark and the same can be used
by its members.
• The most appropriate example for this mark is the ‗Reliance‘ symbol, which indicates all
products falling under the organization.

ACTS AND LAWS

• In India, Trademarks are governed under The Trademarks Act, 1999

(http://www.ipindia.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/IPOAct/1_43_1_trad e-marks-act.pdf).
• The Trademark rules are governed by Trademarks Rules, 2002,
(http://www.ipindia.nic.in/writeread data/Portal/IPO
Rule/1_56_1_1_59_1_tmr_rules_2002_1_.pdf).
• The Acts and Rules have been amended from time to time. The latest amendments were
done in 2010 and 2017 for Trademarks Acts and Trademarks, respectively.
• The administration of matters pertaining to Trademarks is carried out by the Office of
CGDPDTM, Govt. of India

DESIGNATION OF TRADEMARK SYMBOLS

Represents that the Trademark is unregistered. This mark can be used for promoting
the goods of the company.

Represents that the Trademark is unregistered. This mark can be used for promoting
brand services.

Represents a registered Trademark/Service. The applicant of the registered Trademark

is its legal owner.

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CLASSIFICATION OF TRADEMARKS

• Goods and Services under Trademarks are classified as per the Nice Agreement (1957)
administered by WIPO.
• A total of 149 countries (84 state parties who are signatory to the Agreement and 65
additional states who are following this classification for the Trademarks) and others
(African Intellectual Property Organization, African Regional IP Organization and
Trademark Office of European Union) are using the same Trademark classification.
• Trademark classification comprises of 45 classes, out of which 34 are for goods and 11
are for services
• Two examples of the classes are:
o Class 1 is for Chemicals for use in industry, science and photography, agriculture,
horticulture and forestry; Unprocessed artificial resins, unprocessed plastics; Fire
extinguishing and fire prevention compositions; Tempering and soldering
preparations; Substances for tanning animal skins and hides; Adhesives for use in
industry; Putties and other paste fillers; Compost, manures, fertilizers; Biological
preparations for use in industry and science.
o Class 45 is for legal services; Security services for the physical protection of
tangible property and individuals; Personal and social services rendered by others
to meet the individual‘s needs.

REGISTRATION OF A TRADEMARK IS NOT COMPULSORY

Although, registration of a Trademark is not compulsory, registration provides certain

advantages to the proprietor of the Trademark, such as:

• Legal Protection – prevents the exploitation of the Registering Trademark by other

companies/organizations/individuals, without proper authorization by the legal owner/s
of the Trademark. In case of legal suits, a registered Trademark can serve as a potent
evidence of the lawful proprietorship of the Trademark.
• Exclusive Right - grants the Trademark owner full rights to use it in any lawful manner
to promote his business.

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• Brand Recognition - products/ services are identified by their logo, which helps create
brand value over time. A strong brand is a huge pull for new customers and an anchor for
existing customers. Registering a Trademark early and using it will create goodwill and
generate more business for the brand owner.
• Asset Creation - registered Trademark is an intangible property of the organization. It
can be used for enhancing the business of the company as well as drawing new clients
and retaining old one by the account of brand identification.

VALIDITY OF TRADEMARK

• In India, a registered Trademark is valid for 10 years.

• The period can be extended every 10 years, perpetually.
• As per the Indian Trademarks Act, the renewal request is to be filed in the form ‗TM-R‘
within one year before the expiry of the last registration of the mark

TYPES OF TRADEMARK REGISTERED IN INDIA

• Trademark can be a word that must be able to speak, spell and remember.
• It is highly recommended that one should choose the Trademark like invented word,
created words, and unique geographical name.
• One should refrain from Trademarks like common geographical name, common personal
name and the praising words which describe the quality of goods, such as best, perfect,
super, etc.
• To ensure all these characteristics in a Trademark, it is suggested to conduct a market
survey to ensure if a similar mark is used in the market. Following are some examples of
the registerable Trademarks:
o Any name including personal or surname of the applicant or predecessor in
business or the signature of the person e.g. the Trademark ‗BAJAJ‘ is named after
industrialist Mr. Jamnalal Bajaj.
o A word having no relevance to the product/services e.g. Trademark ‗INDIA
GATE‘ is being used for food grains and allied products.

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o Letters or numerals or any combination thereof e.g. ‗YAHOO‘ is the abbreviation

of the phrase ‗Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle‘. It has now become a
worldwide famous Trademark.

TRADEMARK REGISTRY

• In India, the operations of Trademarks are carried out from five cities i.e. Delhi, Mumbai,
Ahmadabad, Kolkata, and Chennai.
• Each city has been assigned a bunch of states. The businesses located in a particular state
can only use the services of the assigned Trademark Registration Office.
• In the case of foreign applicants, jurisdiction is based on the location of the office of the
applicant‗s agent or attorney.

Sl. No Office location States included

1 Mumbai Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Goa.
Gujarat and Rajasthan and Union Territories of Daman, Diu,
2 Ahmedabad
Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal,
3 Kolkata Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura, Jharkhand and
Union Territories of Nagaland, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal
4 New Delhi
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh.
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Karnataka and
5 Chennai
Union Territories of Pondicherry and Lakshadweep Island.

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PROCESS FOR TRADEMARKS REGISTRATION

Fig: Process for Trademark registration

To seek Trademark registration, the proprietor of the Trademark has to fill an application. The
proprietor may choose to hire an agent to fill and submit the application on his behalf. Before
applying, the applicant needs to conduct a prior art search to ensure the registration criteria.

• Prior Art Search - Prior to applying for Trademark registration, it is always prudent to
check whether the intended Trademark is already registered or not. Also, it is ascertained

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whether the intended Trademark is not similar to the ones already registered. The
requisite search can be carried out using various web portals such as
o Public search for Trademarks by CGPDTM
o Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)
o WIPO‗s Global Brand Database
• The steps involved in the registration process are as follows
o After the prior art search has been conducted, the applicant can apply for the
registration on his own or with the help of a certified agent.
o The application is assigned an application number within a few days. (The same
can be tracked online at https://ipindiaonline.
gov.in/tmrpublicsearch/frmmain.aspx.)
o The application is scrutinized by a professional examiner. If everything is in
order, the particulars of the application are published in the official Trademark
journal (http: //www.ipindia. nic.in/journal-tm.htm). Otherwise, he will send the
objections to the applicant for rectification. Based on the satisfactory response,
the examiner would recommend the revised application to be published in the
journal. If the application is rejected, the applicant may approach the Intellectual
Property Division to challenge the rejection of an application by the examiner.
o Once the Trademark is published in the official journal, the public has an
opportunity to file an objection, if any, within 90 days. After hearing both the
parties, the officer decides whether to proceed further for the grant of Trademark
or disallow the grant of Trademark. In case of unfavorable outcome, the applicant
has the right to contest the decision in front of the IPAB.
o Once the application has successfully completed all formalities, a Trademark
registration certificate is issued in the name of the applicant.

FAMOUS CASE LAW: COCA-COLA COMPANY VS. BISLERI INTERNATIONAL

PVT. LTD.

• 'MAAZA', a popular mango fruit drink in India, is a registered Trademark of an Indian

company, Bisleri International Pvt. Ltd.

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• The company transferred the rights (formulation, IPR and goodwill, etc.) to a beverage
company, Coca-Cola, for the Indian Territory.
• However, in 2008, the Bisleri Company applied for registration of Trademark ‗Maaza‘ in
Turkey and started exporting the product with the mark ‗MAAZA‘.
• This was unacceptable to the Coca-Cola Company and thus filed a petition for permanent
injunction and damages for passing-off and infringement of the Trademark.
• It was argued on behalf of Plaintiff (Coca-Cola Company) that as the mark ‗Maaza‘
concerning the Indian market was assigned to Coca-Cola, and manufacture of the product
with such mark, whether for sale in India or for export, would be considered as an
infringement.
• After hearing both the parties, the court finally granted an interim injunction against the
defendant (Bisleri) from using the Trademark MAAZA in India as well as for the export
market, which was held to be an infringement of Trademark

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