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| Intellectual Property Rights Law in India |
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Most successful brands across the world are being cheated in the matter of Intellectual Property Rights. The most common violation is counterfeiting. The term “Intellectual Property” covers Patents, Copyright, Trademark, Designs and Technical Know How and so on and so forth.
Counterfeiting bypasses the delivery and distribution of illegitimate products in legitimate packaging through legitimate channels. The result is Loss of Products quality, devaluation of consumer understanding of regularity and the loss of revenue and profit. Ingredients of counterfeiting can be summed up as to forge, to copy to imitate without authority and right, and with a view to deceive or defraud both consumer and producer by passing the copy or forged item as original or genuine. Thus, such goods cause diversion and confusion in the minds of consumers, and tend to eat into the originators market and the value of the manufacturer’s investment in Trademarks & Copyrights. The list of items being counterfeited is rather endless and ever growing.
These Intellectual Property Rights falls under the following legislations:- |
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| Conduct and organize criminal/civil seizures |
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As an IP right holder, it is essential that you do everything possible to protect your intellectual property, and the reputation of your brand, some Indian manufacturers also regularly produce goods which are confusingly similar to well-known brand-name products.
GPM’s team of investigators can work with you at all phases of the investigation process, from identifying infringers to arranging trap purchases, to organizing raids i.e. Criminal Action and/or Civil Action on counterfeiting companies/individuals.
GPM works on intellectual property issues including trademark protection, copyright protection, counterfeiting, patent protection, and dealing with products which are similar to the extent to cause confusion.
If you suspect that your product is being counterfeited in India, we can work to identify the manufacturer of the counterfeit goods. Once we have identified the counterfeiter, or if you already have an idea who the counterfeiter is, we can conduct in-depth investigation of the offending company.
Searches of government records will allow us to establish whether the target is a lawful entity. This lets us identify whether action should be taken against a company, individual people, or both. If the target is a company, we can conduct a company search to identify the owners of the company, and to provide you with information on the targets’ manufacturing capability, its assets, and its financial situation.
We then typically pose as customer to be of the infringing company. This allows us to visit the target’s office and factory, and identify where infringing products are manufactured and stored. We can also examine the offending entity’s manufacturing prowess, discuss the company’s target markets and sales and marketing techniques, and collect other evidence relevant to the case. At this stage, we also often collect samples of the counterfeit products.
While the investigation continues, we can also arrange discreet surveillance of the offending company, and of the individuals involved in the counterfeiting.
Our associate lawyers will suggest to you the type of action to be taken which will be most beneficial to your company, i.e. Civil Action, Criminal Action or combination of both. We then work with the relevant authorities to arrange for a raid of the target company’s premises. Depending on the severity of the case, this can lead to anything from the authorities seizing the fake products through to the counterfeiters being fined or having their factories closed down, or to the counterfeiters being arrested.
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| Customs Protection |
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GPM can act on behalf of individuals and companies in applying for Customs records of the intellectual property rights throughout India; act on behalf of foreigners, foreign enterprises and other foreign companies in applying for Customs records of the intellectual property rights in India; Request the Customs to take protection measures in relation to the intellectual property rights.
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