In a move that will surely cause massive inconvenience to trademark lawyers and researchers in India, the office of Controller General of Patent Design and Trademark (CGPDTM) has issued a public notice announcing the unavailability of the Trademark Public Search feature and the E-register feature from 10 AM to 4:30 PM on all working days. The short pubic notice states:-
“Due to the increased load on the TM application and database servers, the core functions of the TM Registry are affected. Till up gradation of hardware and software are completed, the TM public search and E-register will not be available from 10 AM to 4:30 PM w.e.f. 14.09.2023 on all working days.“
The ambivalent equitation between Indian IP Offices and their respective websites is not new. Whether it’s the now scrapped IPAB website or the CGPDTM, we have seen such glitches in the functioning of these resources multiple times in the past. However, what is upsetting here is the way this notice has been issued. Not only is it uncertain as to when will these resources be restored, but the publication of the notice itself, on the CGPDTM website, has been done without a proper heading and has simply been labeled as “Public Notice for TM Applications”. Another major issue here is that the notice was published just one day before the sudden move to limit access to these important features.