Orders Passed By Trade Mark Associate Managers To Be Revalidated

Recently in the case of Visa International Ltd. v Visa International Service Association & Anr and Garden Silk Mills Private Limited v Rajesh Mallick & Ors., 2024 SCC OnLine Cal 7238 a Single Judge of the Calcutta High Court held that associate managers of the Trade Marks Registry (Associate Managers) appointed under Section 3(2) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 (Act) were not empowered to pass quasi-judicial orders. A common judgment and order was passed in a group of three matters.

In the present cases, appeals were filed by Visa International Ltd and Garden Silk Mills Private Limited (Appellants) challenging the orders passed by Associate Managers in their respective trade mark opposition cases. While the said appeals challenged the orders on merits, the preliminary point raised by the Appellants was that the Associate Managers were not competent to pass such orders.