{"id":22830,"date":"2020-12-26T11:54:43","date_gmt":"2020-12-26T06:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/?p=22830"},"modified":"2020-12-26T12:17:46","modified_gmt":"2020-12-26T06:47:46","slug":"limitations-of-trademark-hearings-through-video-conferencing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/limitations-of-trademark-hearings-through-video-conferencing\/","title":{"rendered":"Limitations of Trademark Hearings through Video Conferencing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In order to cope up with the Covid-19 situation, the Trademark registry of India had put a halt on accepting the Trademark registration<\/strong><\/a> applications since March. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic has hit the\nworld indeed very hard, and in the light of the prevailing situation, the world\nhas turned digital to tackle the ongoing pandemic.The\nController General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks has issued a Public Notice\ndated August 26, 2020, which stated that due to Pandemic and interpreting\nprovisions given under Trademark Rules, 2017, Trademark hearings through video\nconferencing will be allowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction of\nTrademark Hearings through Video Conferencing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for the Intellectual property sector, and the Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks office in India had announced the show cause hearings to be held through video conferencing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a condition has\nbeen imposed, and it is provided that only those matters (Pending for\nacceptance) will take place in which the consent of the applicants or their\nauthorised agents has been obtained and they have approved of their candidature\nin trademark hearings through video conferencing to the Intellectual property\noffice before 5th<\/sup> of September, 2020 to an Email address provided by\nthe IP office for the specific purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To confirm their consent for\nthe virtual hearing, the participant or their attorney is required to submit\nhis request on a specific Email Address with the subject \u201cConsent for\nshow-cause hearing through video conferencing\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Official Notification by Trademark Registry<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An official notice regarding\nthe same was posted on 26th<\/sup> of August, 2020.
\nIt is mentioned in the notice published by the Intellectual Property office,\nIndia that the authorities will attempt to prepare a chart scheduling all the\npre-accepted applications in accordance with the time slots available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, considering the\nnumber of pending applications that has been scheduled on a single day it is\nadvised to reduce the number of the applications to be heard on a single day,\nas the high number of hearing on a single day may lead to unsatisfactory\nresults. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fair and sound hearing\nrequires a reasonable amount of time. Meanwhile, the matters in which the\nconsent have not been obtained, it is directed by the IP office to be kept in a\nstate of temporary suspension till an appropriate period of time and to be\ntaken into consideration as and when the situation improves and the physical\nhearings can be scheduled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a much-appreciated\neffort that will assist in faster approval and rejection of the pre-accepted\ncases which was being anticipated since a long time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provisions of\nTrademark Hearing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The provisions of the trademark hearings through video conferencing has already been provided in the Trademark Rules, 2017<\/strong>[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/sup>, back when it was amended. A few matters concerning the trade marks were held over video conference in the past years. However, for some incomprehensible reason, the method of trademark hearings through video conferencing did not gain the deserving attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering the comfort\nlevel of the applicants, their attorneys as well as the judicial officers,\nphysical hearing has always been preferred over the trademark hearings through\nvideo conferencing, but the situation has been drastically changed after the\nimpact of the Covid-19. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to the Covid-19\nsituation, the trademark hearings and even several other issues concerning the\nintellectual properties are being addressed through video conferencing by the\ncourts, Patent office and the intellectual property appellate board as the\nphysical hearings are no longer advised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In today\u2019s world, it is\nnecessary to function remotely, and the same is expected from the Trade Mark\nRegistry, to work virtually so as to ease the operations and reducing the risk\nof infection. The virtual mode of functioning will facilitate seamless working\nand is being widely accepted all over the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change in the Mind-set<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A radical change has been witnessed\nin the mind-set of the Intellectual officers and the stakeholders who were\nresisting the Trademark hearings through Video conferencing six months ago. However\nit is now completely acceptable and the same people are getting habitual to the\nnew life and embracing the technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Limitation of\nthe Trademark Hearings through Video Conferencing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As each coin has two faces, same is applicable on the trademark hearings through Video conferencing. Hence, the trademark hearings through video conferencing also has certain limitations which act as a hindrance in its smooth functioning. The limitations are follows- <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Limitation<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Slow Internet Connectivity Hinders the Video Conferencing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On one hand, the virtual\nhearings allow an applicant, their attorneys or the judicial officer to attend\nthe hearings remotely. One can avoid the expense of travelling, and maintain\ntheir cool which is generally lost while waiting for the physical hearings. On\nthe other, in order to offer smooth trademark hearings through video\nconferencing, the platform made for the purpose of the hearing must be well-\ndesigned to avoid the interruptions during the meetings. The internet\nconnectivity plays a major role in the smooth conduct of virtual hearings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Limit in the Size of Documents for Supporting Evidence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another concern is, during a physical hearing, an attorney is always eligible to support their cause using additional documents in a hard copy format. However, in trademark hearings through video conferencing, the Trademark Registry has put a limit of 10 MB for the purpose of uploading documents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With limitation in the size\nof uploading the documents the attorneys fall short of the space for uploading\nthe evidence in majority of the cases. The size limit acts as a challenge to\nadd supporting evidence. In regard to this limitation, it is advisable to the\nhearing platforms to have a feature of live – sharing the additional documents\nwith the Hearing Officer to support their cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been said by the\nIndian Intellectual property office, that the authority has been attempting its\nlevel best to deploy technologically advanced features to improve its\nfunctioning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With the outbreak of novel\nCorona Virus, the world has been turned upside down. The deadly virus compelled\nthe world to go through some drastic changes. The adverse impact of corona\nvirus has also been inflicted upon the judicial system of India and the\nauthorities have come up with virtual hearings to tackle the situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision of the Controller general of Patents Designs and Trademarks office in India to conduct trademark hearings through video conferencing is a much appreciated and a welcoming step. The virtual hearings are expected to boost up and reduce the number of pending applications in the court. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read our article<\/b>:\nEverything you need to know about Trademark Search in India\n<\/a><\/mark><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In order to cope up with the Covid-19 situation, the Trademark registry of India had put a halt on accepting the Trademark registration applications since March. The pandemic has hit the world indeed very hard, and in the light of the prevailing situation, the world has turned digital to tackle the ongoing pandemic.The Controller General […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":22837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[1360],"acf":{"service_id":"18"},"authorName":"Sakshi Srivastava","authorImageUrl":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG-20180130-WA0007.jpg","authorDescription":"Sakshi has pursued B.B.A.LL.B.(IPR Hons.). She is an avid reader and is keen to gather and share her knowledge on the subjects relating to IPR, Company Law and GST. Priorly she has worked as a legal researcher and vide her articles she aims at improving the core knowledge of the subjects to the masses.","postViews":4802,"readingTime":4,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22830"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22882,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22830\/revisions\/22882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}