India to implement Madrid Protocol

[Ceres]

Trademarks are an important topic when it comes domaining, and therefore we should be aware of any major changes to India's trademark law.

Last month, the Lok Sabha passed a Bill to amend India's Trade Marks Act. The Act will incorporate the Madrid Protocol.

What all this means is an applicant using the Madrid system can apply for trademark protection in any of the members countries without having to file separate trademark applications.

Many other countries have already signed up to the Madrid Protocol. Current members include the USA, Australia, European Union, China and Japan. Obviously, these other member countries can also apply for trademark protection in India without having to file a separate application.

India is not currently on the Madrid member list. I assume it's going to take a bit of time before all the necessary changes are implemented.

 

[Ceres]

India is not currently on the Madrid member list.

According to this article India is now undecided as to whether to join the Madrid system. This doesn't make sense to me though. Why did India pass a bill that incorporates the Madrid system into the Trademarks Act?

 

[RaghavK]

makes no sense..or maybe they have something else in mind..something similar but on different lines..just a guess though..

 

[Jeff]

According to this article, the issue is still under consideration:
The Hindu Business Line : Madrid Protocol beckons India

With Indian companies such as BPL, ITC, and Videocon going global, it is important that `trademarks' of these companies are provided protection. This calls for an international treaty harmonising the trademark law and practices of various countries. The Indian trademark practice of filing applications in each country for registration and tracing them simultaneously, is time-consuming and expensive. Therefore, India is realising the advantages of becoming a member of the Madrid System, which, inter alia, enables an applicant company/entity seeking international registration to file only one application and pay only one fee in local currency.

Never seen the phrase "inter alia" in a news article before!

 

[Ceres]

Spicy IP Blog has a nice write up about The Trademarks (Amendment) Bill 2009 (which implements the Madrid Protocol). The writer points out a few practical issues that need to be clarified before this Bill becomes law.

 

[Jeff]

Looks like the Madrid Protocol has been implemented:

On 18 December, the Lok Sabha passed the Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill 2009, which would implement the Madrid Protocol in India and make the process for registering trademarks in India simpler.

Cyber law update to meet global standards

 

[Jeff]

Here is a copy of the bill:

http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Trade marks/The Trade Marks Amendment Bill 2009.pdf