It is advisable that a search may be made of the Trademarks Register to ensure whether there are any similar or identical marks on the Register. Search request can be filed on Form TM-55.

After the search of the Register, application is made on Form TM-1/TM-2 for one mark in one class.

Acknowledgement Receipt by the Trade Mark Registry is issued to the applicant within 10-15 days.

Examination Report is generated after 3 months. If there are any objections on the applied trademark, they are communicated to the applicant immediately in the form of Show Cause Notice.

A patent for an invention is grant of exclusive rights to make, use and sell the invention for a limited period of 20 years. The patent grant excludes others from making, using, or selling the invention. Patent protection does not start until the actual grant of a patent. A patent cannot be obtained on a mere idea or suggestion. Patent applications are examined for both technical and legal merit.

Any invention, whether a product or process, in all fields of technology, is Patentable provided the invention meets the substantive criteria for patentability - namely, novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability.

The following shall not be regarded as invention within the meaning of sub-section (1), namely:-

a) A discovery, scientific theory or mathematical method;
b) A literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or any other creation of purely aesthetic character whatsoever;
c) A scheme, rule or method for performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business;
d) The presentation of information; and
e) Substances that exist in nature or if isolated there from.

Copyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. The owner of copyright has the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;
To prepare derivative works based upon the work;
To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
To display the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and In the case of sound recordings*, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.

It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the copyright law to the owner of copyright. These rights, however, are not unlimited in scope, the copyright law establishes limitations on these rights. In some cases, these limitations are specified exemptions from copyright liability. One major limitation is of “fair use,” In other instances, the limitation takes the form of a “compulsory license” under which certain limited uses of copyrighted works are permitted upon payment of specified royalties and compliance with statutory conditions. For further information about the limitations of any of these rights, consult the copyright law

Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.

In the case of a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; the employer and not the employee is considered to be the author, if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire.

The authors of a joint work are co-owners of the copyright in the work, unless there is an agreement to the contrary.

Note:

Ownership of a book, manuscript, painting, or any other copy or phonorecord does not give the possessor the copyright. The transfer of ownership of any material object that embodies a protected work does not of itself convey any rights in the copyright.

An industrial design is the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article. The design may consist of three-dimensional features, such as the shape or surface of an article, or of two dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or colour.

Industrial designs are applied to a wide variety of products of industry and handicraft: from technical and medical instruments to watches, jewellery and other luxury items; from house wares and electrical appliances to vehicles and architectural structures; from textile designs to leisure goods.

An industrial design is primarily of an aesthetic or visual nature, and does not relate to the technical features of an article.