INTA Leadership Meeting Underscores Importance of Continued Outreach in India

INTA’s 2018 Leadership Meeting was significant for India in several ways. The Association announced that it would hold its Board Meeting, Government Relations Program, and events related to these meetings in India from September 23 to 25, 2019, in New Delhi, India. This is the first time the INTA Board of Directors will be holding its meeting in India.

The India Global Advisory Council also met for its second in-person meeting of 2018 and discussed its objectives. Several initiatives were proposed and advocacy opportunities identified, including advocating for customs coordination in South Asia and statutory damages for intellectual property rights (IPR) disputes in India.

India’s growing importance on the global map is not lost on INTA, and the Association has been focused on sustained growth of its activities and initiatives in the country. There have been annual high-level delegations to India for eight years now, ongoing collaboration with the government, regular educational programming, multiple advocacy endeavors, and much more.

Suffice it to say, the coming year in India already looks promising for INTA. If you would like to become involved in INTA’s India-related activities, please reach out to INTA’s India Consultant, Gauri Kumar, at [email protected].

IP Office Update

In an IP office update, the Indian Trade Marks Registry recently reached out to applicants/agents proposing to use video conferencing for hearings in “show cause” matters. The video conferencing will enable the applicants/agents to defend their cases without physically being present at the Trade Marks Registry.

The interested applicant or agent may submit a request for hearing through video conferencing within a period of 14 days from the hearing notice. The hearing notice also provides a hyperlink for this purpose. If a request for video conference is selected, the date and time of the hearing will be communicated to the applicant/agent.

The Registry had indicated during a stakeholder interaction in August that it was considering video conferencing for trademark show cause hearings. INTA and its members welcome this positive move by the Registry.

Call for Action
INTA is looking for volunteers to create and contribute material to a project of the Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM). The project relates to Objective 1 of the National IPR Policy – IPR Awareness: Outreach and Promotion. Pursuant to this, CIPAM is developing an interactive IPR Activity Book that will be disseminated to school children across India and is currently seeking volunteers to contribute to the creation of this book.

CIPAM is a professional body under the aegis of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), which ensures focused action on issues related to IPRs and addresses the seven identified objectives of the policy. CIPAM assists in simplifying and streamlining of IP processes, apart from undertaking steps for furthering IPR awareness, commercialization, and enforcement.

Please write to [email protected] by December 15 if you would like to volunteer.

INTA India Consultant Gauri Kumar supports the Association’s 147 members in India. In collaboration with the staff at INTA’s headquarters in New York City and Representatives Offices around the world, Ms. Kumar works on the Association’s policy, membership, marketing, and communications initiatives throughout India. To learn more about INTA’s activities in India, please contact Gauri Kumar at [email protected].

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of items in the INTA Bulletin, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest. Law & Practice updates are published without comment from INTA except where it has taken an official position.