Lok Sabha Question No. 238 (STARRED), answered on 2021-03-10
Subject: Granting Trademark under Startup Scheme
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Dhal Singh Bisen

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT FOR PROMOTION OF INDUSTRY AND INTERNAL TRADE

## LOK SABHA

STARRED QUESTION NO. 238. TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 10 TH  MARCH, 2021.

## GRANTING TRADEMARK UNDER STARTUP SCHEME

## *238.  DR. DHAL SINGH BISEN:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state:

वाणिज्य

## एवं उद्योग मंत्री

- (a) whether the Government has made any provision for providing employment by giving trademarks to the people under Startup scheme and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the provisions in place to give trademark including the time period after which trademark is given to the applicant on applying for the same;
- (c) whether there is any  provision  to  take  action  against  the  officers  not  giving trademark within the time limit;
- (d) if  so,  the  names  and  details  of  the  officers  against  whom  action  has  been taken  including  the  dates  on  which  action  has  been  taken,  State-wise including for not giving trademark to women entrepreneurs from Seoni district in Madhya Pradesh;
- (e) if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (f) the time by which the trademark will be given to all eligible entrepreneurs?

## ANSWER

वाणिज्य  एवं उद्योग मंत्री (श्री पीयूष गोयल) THE MINISTER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI  PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) to (f): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF  THE    LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 238 FOR ANSWER ON 10 TH  MARCH, 2021.

- (a): The Government of India has been taking various legislative and policy reforming steps to strengthen the Intellectual Property Rights regime in the country keeping in view our developmental needs.

In this regard, in order to give impetus to the Start-up ecosystem in the country,    definition  of  'Start-up'  was  incorporated  by  Government  of India,  through  an amendment in Trade Mark Rules, 2017. Facility for expedited examination of a trademark application under Rule 34 is also provided  to Start-ups. Further, statutory fees paid  for  trademark applications filed by a Start-up has been reduced to 50% vis-à-vis large entities. A further concession of 10% in prescribed fee is provided for online filing of applications. Till 28 th February, 2021, 13,703 trademark applications filed by Start-ups have availed benefit of reduced fee. The State-wise details of the Trademark Applications received and granted under  the  Startup  India  Scheme  as  on  28.02.2021  is  attached  at Annexure-A1.

In addition to the above, since the Start-ups have limited resources and expertise  in  IPR  processing,  Government  of  India  launched 'Scheme for Facilitating Startups Intellectual Property Protection' (SIPP), on pilot basis in 2016 for one year, to help Start-ups in filing and subsequent processing of their applications in Patents, Designs and Trademarks. The Scheme was in force up till March 31, 2020 and has been further extended till March 2023. Under the Scheme, the Government of India bears the entire  cost  of  the  facilitator  who  assists  the  Start-up  to  file any number of Patents, Trademarks or Designs. For effective implementation  of  the  Scheme,  facilitators  have  been  empanelled  by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM). As on 28 th February, 2021, more than 900 facilitators have been registered with the office of CGPDTM; of which 392 have been registered  for  facilitation for  Trademarks  under  the  Scheme.  A  list  of facilitators is provided at Trade Marks Offices' website (www.ipindia.nic.in) whose services may be availed by the Start-ups for application for registration of trademark and the professional charges of such facilitators is reimbursed by the government. As on 31 st December,  2020,  2,546  applications  have  been  filed  by  Start-ups through facilitators, details are as per Annexure A-2 .

- (b): Processing of a trademark application is a quasi-judicial process and is done in accordance with provisions of The Trade Marks Act, 1999 and The Trade Marks Rules, 2017. The registration certificate for trademark is normally granted to the applicant within seven months from the date of filing of application, if no office objections are noted in examination and  no  opposition  is  received  after  publication  of  the  trademarks application in the Trade Marks Journal.
- (c): As mentioned in response to point (b) above, if all the compliances are made  as  per  the  provisions  of  Trade  Mark  Rules,  2017  and  no

|            | opposition are received during the publication period, registration certificate for trademark is granted within seven months of filing of applications. However, if any opposition is received when the application is put for publication than timelines get stretched since the entire process of registration of Trademark application is quasi-judicial and thus, before disposing of the opposition, following the principles of natural justice, an opportunity of being heard is provided to both the opposing party and the applicant to make their submissions.                                                                                                                     |
|------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|            | Notwithstanding to the above, internal guidelines are being issued from time to time for quick disposal of applications, and if any deliberate dereliction of duty is found on the part of any officer, appropriate action is taken as per the CCS Rules.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|            | Along-with these guidelines, procedural reforms and re-engineering in trademark processes have been introduced including updated Online Search Facility for Classification of Goods and Services for Trademarks, automatic allotment of applications for examination, automation of process for registration and renewal so that registration and renewal Certificates are automatically processed and dispatched to designated email-id of the applicant and also get uploaded in the Electronic Register, providing details of hearing notices and adjournments on the website, etc. These measures have brought in significant improvements in the functioning of the Trademark Registry. |
| (d) & (e): | In continuation to response at (c) above, no such incidence has been noted till date. Trademark application No. 3383863 was filed by Mrs. Deepmala Nandan of Seoni (Madhya Pradesh) on 05.10.2016 for registration of trademark. Said application was advertised in Trade Mark Journal on 26.12.2016 as per provisions of Trade Mark Act, 1999 giving an opportunity to others to file their opposition (if any) to said application within four months of date of advertisement by giving a notice of opposition. The application has been opposed on 25.04.2017 by Exide Industries Limited and at present the matter is sub-judice.                                                       |
| (f):       | Processing of registration of a trademark application is a quasi-judicial process and is done in accordance with the provisions of The Trade Marks Act, 1999 and The Trade Marks Rules, 2017. The registration certificate for trademark is normally granted to the applicant within seven months from the date of filing of application, if no office objections are noted in examination and no opposition is received after publication of the trademarks application in the Trade Marks Journal.                                                                                                                                                                                         |

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## ANNEXURE- A1

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 238 FOR ANSWER ON 10.03.2021.

## Start-up Applications - Filed and Granted (Trademark) as on 28 th February, 2021

| Name of the State   |   Trade Marks Applications Filed | Trade Marks Granted   |
|---------------------|----------------------------------|-----------------------|
| Andaman & Nicobar   |                                1 | 1                     |
| Andhra Pradesh      |                              115 | 44                    |
| Assam               |                               34 | 17                    |
| Bihar               |                               97 | 29                    |
| Chandigarh          |                               79 | 12                    |
| Chhattisgarh        |                               52 | 20                    |
| Daman & Diu         |                                4 | 2                     |
| Delhi               |                             2295 | 1095                  |
| Goa                 |                               16 | 9                     |
| Gujarat             |                              768 | 372                   |
| Haryana             |                              988 | 406                   |
| Himachal Pradesh    |                               25 | 2                     |
| Jammu And Kashmir   |                               29 | 9                     |
| Jharkhand           |                               35 | 11                    |
| Karnataka           |                             2309 | 1230                  |
| Kerala              |                              228 | 94                    |
| Madhya Pradesh      |                              172 | 74                    |
| Maharashtra         |                             3162 | 1526                  |
| Manipur             |                                1 | N/A                   |
| Meghalaya           |                                1 | N/A                   |
| Orissa              |                              160 | 65                    |
| Pondicherry         |                                9 | 7                     |
| Punjab              |                               84 | 47                    |
| Rajasthan           |                              418 | 172                   |
| Tamil Nadu          |                              813 | 395                   |
| Telangana           |                              683 | 284                   |
| Tripura             |                                1 | N/A                   |
| Uttar Pradesh       |                             1055 | 396                   |
| Uttarakhand         |                               69 | 34                    |
| Total               |                            13703 | 6353                  |

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ANNEXURE- A2 ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 238 FOR ANSWER ON 10.03.2021.

Startup applications filed through facilitators (for Trademarks)

| Year                        |   Startup applications filed through facilitators |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
| 2016-17                     |                                                30 |
| 2017-18                     |                                               642 |
| 2018-19                     |                                              1103 |
| 2019-20                     |                                               981 |
| 2020-21 (April to December) |                                              1443 |
| Total                       |                                              2546 |

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