Transfer of Non-Renewed Registration – Whether Valid?

Registration of trademarks gives the exclusive right to use the mark in respect of goods for which one has registered it and the infringement of such right gives him the right to initiate proceedings against the person who uses the mark without his consent. Besides being the prima facie evidence of the validity of the trademark it also establishes the date of use of trademark.

The Trademarks Act, 1999 empowers the Registrar to renew the registration on an application filed only by the registered proprietor of the trade mark. Registered proprietor has been defined by the Act as the person for the time being entered in the register as proprietor of the trade mark. The question arises whether the proprietor on the Register can still call himself as the registered proprietor after the expiry of the period of registration. Whether such proprietor can transfer rights of the impugned trademark? Whether the transferee gets into the shoes of such proprietor and seek the renewal of