30 Aug 2024
A recent ruling of the Calcutta High Court has triggered revalidation of all trademark applications processed by contractual officers of the Trade Marks Registry in the past two years. This update discusses the revalidation process and its impact on trademark applicants and proprietors.
The High Court of Calcutta has recently held that officers appointed to the Indian Trade Marks Registry through the Quality Council of India, i.e., contractual officers, are not competent to pass orders relating to the processing of trademark applications as they cannot perform quasi-judicial functions. These officers have been engaged by the Trade Marks Registry at least since 2022 and have handled and passed orders in a large volume of trademark applications. Their orders are now under scrutiny and must be revalidated by designated officers of the Trade Marks Registry.
Therefore, trademark applicants and registered proprietors who have had any activity (acceptance orders, formalities checks, issuance of examination reports, hearings, amendments, etc.) on their applications in the last two years by such contractual officers must remain vigilant of their portfolios and identify which of their applications may require revalidation.
The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks has laid down a process for revalidation in its order dated 13 August 2024 (Order). This process is discussed below.
The revalidation process will involve a review of each decision passed by a contractual officer. This review will be conducted by a group of 27 officers segregated into two levels: Level 1 officers who hold positions of Examiners/Senior Examiners, and Level 2 officers who hold positions of Assistant Registrars. The designated officers will revisit all final decisions passed by any contractual officer in relation to any of the following:
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