Indexes, Public Inspection and the Report to Parliament

In one line

The Registry keeps four indexes, almost everything in it is open to public inspection, and once a year Parliament is told how the Act has been administered.

Section 147: the four indexes

"There shall be kept UNDER THE DIRECTION AND SUPERVISION OF THE REGISTRAR:

• (a) an INDEX OF REGISTERED TRADE MARKS;
• (b) an INDEX OF TRADE MARKS IN RESPECT OF WHICH APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION ARE PENDING;
• (c) an INDEX OF THE NAMES OF THE PROPRIETORS of registered trade marks; and
• (d) an INDEX OF THE NAMES OF REGISTERED USERS."

Two indexes of marks, two of persons. The first pair lets a searcher find a mark, whether registered or pending. The second pair lets him find everything a given proprietor or registered user holds.

Index (b) is the important one for a would be applicant. Without an index of pending applications, a search would show only what is registered, and an applicant would file into an unseen queue. Section 11(1) makes an earlier application a relative ground of refusal, and index (b) is how it is found.

And index (d), the registered users, is the practical answer to a question about licensing transparency. Whether a mark is licensed, and to whom, is a public fact.

Section 148: public inspection

Section 148(1): "SAVE AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN SUB-SECTION (4) OF SECTION 49:

• (a) THE REGISTER and ANY DOCUMENT UPON WHICH ANY ENTRY IN THE REGISTER IS BASED;
• (b) EVERY NOTICE OF OPPOSITION to the registration of a trade mark, application for rectification before the Registrar, COUNTER-STATEMENT thereto, and ANY AFFIDAVIT OR DOCUMENT FILED BY THE PARTIES in any proceedings before the Registrar;
• (c) ALL REGULATIONS DEPOSITED UNDER SECTION 63 OR SECTION 74, and all applications under SECTION 66 OR SECTION 77 for varying such regulations;
• (d) THE INDEXES mentioned in section 147; and
• (e) such other documents as the Central Government may, by notification, specify,

shall, SUBJECT TO SUCH CONDITIONS AS MAY BE PRESCRIBED, BE OPEN TO PUBLIC INSPECTION AT THE TRADE MARKS REGISTRY:

PROVIDED that when such register is maintained WHOLLY OR PARTLY ON COMPUTER, the inspection shall be made BY INSPECTING THE COMPUTER PRINTOUT of the relevant entry."

Section 148(2): "ANY PERSON MAY, on an application to the Registrar and on payment of such fees as may be prescribed, OBTAIN A CERTIFIED COPY OF ANY ENTRY IN THE REGISTER OR ANY DOCUMENT referred to in sub-section (1)."

What is open, and the one thing that is not

Everything on the list is open. The register, the documents behind each entry, the whole of an opposition or rectification file including affidavits, the regulations of collective and certification marks, the indexes, and anything the Government adds.

The exception is section 49(4), which relates to registered user applications. Section 148(1) opens with "save as otherwise provided in sub-section (4) of section 49", so whatever that sub section protects stays out of public view. Chapter 920 works section 49.