The advent of Trade Mark Rules in 2017 ("Rules) has seen
many positive changes at the Trade Marks Registry
("Registry"). The objective of the Rules was
simplification and digitization of the registration process, and it
appears that the functioning of the Registry has improved
significantly to move in the direction of meeting those
objectives.
For years the Registry worked at a very slow pace and it was
often the case that applications languished for years and, in some
cases, decades. The tardy pace of examination and advancement of
applications in the registration process is history now. In recent
times, Applicants have witnessed record examination times, often
receiving an Examination Report within weeks of filings. In fact,
since 2017, many applications have matured to registration less
than one (1) year after filing. Moreover, the quality of
examination has improved significantly! On the subject of quality,
very recently, the Delhi High Court, in Intellectual
