INDIAN TRADE MARK OFFICE CIRCULAR

New Requirements for Registration of Trade Marks in India - Proper Description of Goods, User and Applicants

In a move to bring about accuracy of trade mark records and applications and to limit the potential for misuse of a broad claim in case of description of goods and services of a trade mark, the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks has issued a circular bearing no. CG/F/ Public Notice/ 2011/ 81 dated 9th of January 2012, which requires TM applications to have the following information, failing which the trade mark Applications will not be processed henceforth:

1. Description of Goods / Services: Actual description of Goods /Services in respect of which the trade mark is proposed to be used or has been used should be mentioned and terms like "all goods/ services", "etc.", "all other goods/ services included in class……" , "goods/services not limited to ……….." shall not be entertained. Thus, when filing a trade mark application one should only mention those goods / services in respect of which the applicant is using / proposes to use the trade mark.

2. Names: The full names (initials are not allowed) of Proprietors in the case of a Proprietorship Firm, the full names of all Partners in case of a Partnership Firm, name of the Managing Trustee in case of a Trust and name of the person representing the society in the case of a Society, should be mentioned.

3. Date of USE: In the case of a claim of date of prior use of the trade mark the actual date- consisting of the day, month and the year, when the trade mark was used should be given and not just the year and the month.

4. Translation/Transliteration: Proper translation/transliteration of the trade mark should be provided in the case of Non-English characters appearing in the mark.

5. Visibility of Trade Mark: The trade mark should be clearly visible.