October, 2008: Protection and enforcement are the two key elements of Intellectual Property Rights, obtaining the protection for any kind of intellectual Property Right (IPR), be it Copyright or Trademark or Patent or Industry Design is comparatively much easier, but the real complexity arises while enforcing the IPR. There are provisions in the respective IP laws for infringement of
rights in the form of compensation, damages and also for imprisonment. Although the law provides for information to the police authorities and conducting raid against infringement of Copyrights and Trademarks, the real difficulty arises due to local elements which act as impediments for enforcement in effective manner.

We have been encountering cases for infringement of Trademarks where legal owners of the trademark are often the victim of counterfeited goods of inferior quality being sold in the open market. This results into loss of goodwill and also loss of market share, besides bearing the risk of being sued by the consumer for any loss to him due to inferior quality. Sometimes, the counterfeited inferior quality goods are produced in the domestic market and sometimes are there imported from other countries. In such a situations the original owner of the trademark or the copyright need to take help not only from local police and judicial authorities but also from the customs authorities of both the countries.

Therefore, it is important that the owner of the Trademark or the Copyright take immediate actions by giving a public notice and giving information to the police and customs authorities. In case of export to the neighboring countries it is advisable to get the trademark registration in the respective neighboring countries for protection and timely enforcement from any kind of possible misuse of the brand and to safeguard one’s business interest from illegitimate competition.

India is facing difficulty for import of counterfeited goods from China. According to a recent interim report, United States has won two cases of claims against China at WTO dispute resolution body in a trademark case for inadequate enforcement measures.

ITAG is equipped with its infrastructure and networking to help business and society from the maladies of infringement of Trademarks, Copyrights, Designs and Patents with its vigilant team and effective IP watch. We try to provide protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights which is the sine qua non of promoting and rewarding the original ideas, innovations and inventions in today’s knowledge era of technology and knowledge based economy.

--Dr. D. R. Agarwal