The Indian Trademark Office yet again released a default notice against several thousands of trademark applications that were examined before March 31, 2017, however, no response to the examination report has been filed yet.

In order to avoid the infamous drama surrounding the Indian Trademark Office abandoning more than one lakh trademark applications by end of March, 2016 and the subsequent stay order from the Delhi High Court and the Trademark Office providing an opportunity for reinstating the applications, wherein several complaints were received regarding communication of the examination report, the present default notice specifically states that the examination reports have been communicated to the concerned address for service on records of the Trademark Office.

Further to ensure that there are no loop holes this time, the notice further states that electronic copies of such examination reports are available on the Indian Trademarks Registry website, implying that in cases wherein physical examination reports have not been notified, the Applicant/Attorney ought to obtain the examination report from the online records.

Although the notice subtly states that as per the provisions of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and the Trade Marks Amended Rules, 2017, the said trademark applications ought to be abandoned, however, by way of this notice, the Trademark Office is providing a last opportunity for replies to examination reports to be filed. Accordingly, the replies to the examination reports for the said applications can be sent to email to parm.tmr@nic.in on or before September 15, 2017, failing which, the applications shall be abandoned.

Take-Away Points

As always, such stringent initiatives by the Registry are applaudable as it ensures strict adherence to deadlines and faster processing of applications. On reading through the verbatim of the notice, it is my personal opinion that the Indian Trademark Office this time around seems to be quite certain that the examination reports have been duly communicated to the concerned Applicant/Attorney on record and thereby narrowing down the possible loop holes.

It is for the time to tell as to how many applications from the said list will actually be abandoned post September 15, 2017, and if there will be any repercussions for such abandonment.