Joint Committees related to Trademark Matters

A public notice issued 5 days ago by the Office of The Controller General Patents, Designs& Trade Marks has brought forth quite a wonderful initiative. It provides for the establishment of joint committees consisting of members from Trademark stakeholders and some officers of the Trademark Registry. (henceforth TMR) This initiative has been suggested as a mechanism to find constructive solutions for the various problems that arise with respect to trademark matters as well as to ensure better coordination between the TMR and the trademark stakeholders. 

Six joint committees have been mentioned in the notice. These are the Committee about matters related to the Front Office or E-Relations, the Committee about matters related to Show Caused or Contested Matters' Hearings, the Committee about matters related to Examination of TM Applications, the Committee about matters related to Advertisements, the Committee about matters related to Post Registration Changes in Trademarks & Renewals and the Committee about matters related to Servers and Technical Improvement.  All these committees consist of four members two of whom are from the Government department and two from various law firms. The names and details of the Committee members including their designations, mobile numbers and email addresses can be found on pages 3 and 4 of the public notice.

The terms and conditions of the Joint Committees are listed in the public notice itself. The initial terms are that the TMR officials in these committees are expected to brief the other members about the present setup which includes the administration as well as the automated system under the TMR. The functions of the Committee is limited to proposing constructive solutions within the existing system including the Trademarks Act and Rules. Other terms and conditions relate to the procedural aspects which state that the meetings of the Committees are to happen at least once a month. Such meetings will be convened by the senior most member of the Committee as per the convenience of the other members of the Committee. Volunteers and other individuals can attend meeting if prior information is given to the members of the Committee. This brings in an  element of accountability while being a learning opportunity for many interested parties.  

Representations and suggestions by other individuals or organisations relevant to the subject handled by the Committee can be circulated among the members of the Committee and will be discussed in the meetings. Generally the Committee will not look into individual grievances even if they are brought to the notice of the Committee. However, if the grievance is of a particular type which requires immediate attention of the Committee, then in such an instance, it can be deliberated upon by the Committee. At every meeting it is imperative that two members of the Committee must be present and that of the two members, one must be from the TMR and the other a representative of the trademark stakeholders. The public notice also states that the signed minutes of every meeting must be sent to the Office of The Controller General Patents, Designs& Trade Marks with the proposed suggestions of the Committee. 

This appears to be a good initiative that hopefully will brighten the trademark scene in India. Having a Committee for the deliberation and discussion of the various difficulties that the stakeholders and the Government face and reaching a constructive solution for the same is undoubtedly, a step forward.