Intellectual Property Rights- General
The IPR protection is given under both Trademark and Copyright for the same label. Trademark is where a word is protected, whereas in copyright the structure, shape, color combination and art is protected. The originality of your work lies in the way it is depicted to consumers and if something similar is depicted, it is likely that a consumer gets deceived by the case.
To fall under our domain an IPR is protected as wordmark, phonetics and copyright work, and none but, the rightful owner has an absolute right to use. Legal recourse to infringements/ passing off to this is given under chapter XII of The Trade Marks Act, 1999 and chapter XII and XIII of The Copyright Act, 1957 which are under both civil and criminal procedures.
The First-Action-Resort in case of infringement of copyright/trade marks are many, yet not all cases can be pursued in a uniform manner. Every case is and would be different and in such a scenario, it is pertinent to gauge the pros and cons of a case given its circumstances. Thus a uniform measure cannot be taken in every case, though all the cases would look similar. Therefore our team provides various services and assistance in order to prevent, protect and preserve the rights of our clients.
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Criminal Surveys/Complaint
Criminal raids are easy to conduct without procedural hurdles due to our police connections; jurisdiction is the place of occurrence and our venturing investigators and experts.
Copyright Surveys/Complaint: The market surveys conducted by our investigators are generally suo motu or at the complaint received by our clients. After the pre-raid reconnaissance & when the target is ascertained as infringer(s), a formal complaint is lodged with the SSP/DCP of the infringers’ jurisdiction and thereafter a search & seizure without warrant is carried out under Copyright Act - Criminal Procedure Code by the police officials with the assistance of our investigators. Samples with invoices are purchased. Samples are sent for lab test and lab report is obtained confirming that the samples are counterfeit.
Trademark Surveys/Complaint: The market surveys conducted by our investigators are generally suo motu or at the complaint received by our clients. After the pre-raid reconnaissance & when the target is ascertained as infringer(s), a formal complaint is lodged with the concerned DSP of the infringers’ jurisdiction and after he is satisfied as per the procedures laid down in Trade Marks Act, 1999, a search & seizure without warrant is carried out under Criminal Procedure Code by the police officials with the assistance of our investigators.
Further raids are also carried out on disclosure of the accused.
Sweeping Raids: A criminal raid where no duplicate is found at the time of the Raid but was available during sample purchase and pre raid recce, is treated as Sweeping Raid.
02
Civil (Court) Raids
In cases of Court Raids or Civil Raid, our investigators assist the Court Receiver appointed by the Court for smooth execution of court order. Additionally, knowing the knack of infringing dealer, as having a firsthand experience, our team is agile enough to assist the police as well as court receiver in seizing the impugned goods. These orders are ex-parte where the Defendant isn't informed before the raid. Wide Publicity is given in print media and Tv, as a deterrent to other duplicators. Many duplicators go underground or stop counterfeiting due to fear of going to jail.
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Border Protection Measures
Border protection measures or measures at the ports are very essential to ensure that counterfeit products are not being exported from India and not being imported to India.
Intellectual Property Rights- Customs
The growth of luxury goods in India has led to a symbiotic relationship between counterfeiters and India’s grey market. Some international suppliers, with the help of Indian importers have made cheap counterfeits easily available, thereby reducing the brand value of the original goods. The effects on brand owner reputation and the Indian economy were drastic, resulting in calls for a serious response from the government.
The Customs Act, 1962, prohibits the import and export of any goods in India which violate Indian laws. The Indian customs authorities are the first line of defence against all counterfeits and fakes entering the Indian market. To ensure vigilance against intellectual property (IP) infringement, the Indian government enacted the Intellectual Property Rights (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007.
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Anti-Counterfeiting regulations under the Intellectual Property Rights (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007.
The IPR Rules, 2007 empowers the competent authority of Customs to seize counterfeit/ pirated goods or suspend the clearance of such goods at the port. The Rules additionally empowers the Custom Department to destroy goods infringing IPR.