The Government of India has approved the proposal for the accession of India to

  1. The Nice Agreement concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the purposes of registration of marks,
  2. The Vienna Agreement establishing an International Classification of the figurative elements of marks, and
  3. The Locarno Agreement establishing an International classification for industrial designs.

Accession to the Nice, Vienna and Locarno Agreements will help the Indian Intellectual Property Office to harmonise the classification systems for examination of trademark and design applications, in line with the classification systems, followed globally.

It would give an opportunity to include Indian designs, figurative elements and goods in the international classification systems.

The accession is expected to instil confidence in foreign investors, applicants, businesses in relation to the protection of their Intellectual Property in India. The accession would also facilitate in exercising rights in decision-making processes regarding review and revision of the classifications under the agreement.

More often than not, the Indian IP office has been raising objections with respect to classifications especially in respect of goods or services that do not fall under standard classification and this move would help to harmonise the practice and reduce objections raised by the IP offices in India.