The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks has issued an office order on August 13, 2024, notifying that the office has undertaken a process to re-validate TM applications where final decisions were taken by officers hired through the Quality Council of India (QCI).
The re-evaluation will cover TM applications processed during the Examination Stage, Show Cause Hearing Stage, Opposition Stage, and Post Registration Stage. The process involves a two-tier review system. A Level-1 Officer is responsible for the initial re-evaluation of the applications based on current legal provisions. Subsequently, a Level-2 Officer will review the decisions made by Level-1 Officers and will either validate or propose necessary actions. If there is a disagreement between Level-1 and Level-2 Officers, it will be recorded, and the Head of Office (HoO) will take further steps if required.
Specific officers across TM Registries in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai have been designated to handle the re-evaluation process for applications at various stages.
To carry out the task, the IT division of the TM registry has been directed to develop/make arrangements to the TM module to process the TM applications under re-validation.
To ensure accountability, the System Administrator of the Trademark Registry has been directed to prepare weekly progress reports, which will be reviewed by the Controller General’s office. These reports will include work output details and any necessary TM Module updates.
To minimize any public grievances, that may arise during the process and to finish the whole process in a time-bound manner, the office has also directed the officers to process 250 applications per day.
Link to the official order: here
Disclaimer
This post has been generated using Artificial intelligence and reviewed for correctness. However, please exercise caution and note that experts in the field may have different opinions about the order or arrive at different conclusions therefrom. It is advisable to read the order before making any decisions based on the post.
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