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Trade marks, patents, copyright and designs.
10stories
Trademark & IP · 1 October 2026
The Patent Office has published draft Guidelines for Registration of Designs relating to GUI & Icon under the Designs Act, 2000. A GUI or icon shown on its own will not be registrable; it must be applied to an article such as a mobile phone or monitor. Stakeholders can send comments by e-mail within 30 days of the public notice.
The Office of the CGPDTM has issued Draft Guidelines for Filing a Geographical Indication (GI) Application, Version 1.0, September 2026. A new GI e-filing service, with online tracking, is available from 15 September 2026. Forms GI-1A to GI-1D are used and the fee is ₹1,000 for each class of goods.
The Office of the CGPDTM has notified that, from 2 October 2026, First Examination Reports in design applications will ordinarily be communicated only to the e-mail address given in Form-1 under “Address for Service in India”. Physical dispatch by post is ordinarily discontinued from that date.
The Office of the CGPDTM has published two drafts — Guidelines for Examination of Patent Applications in the Field of Pharmaceuticals and in the Field of Biotechnology, both marked 2026. They are meant to bring uniform examination standards and to take in court decisions. Both are drafts; the Act and Rules prevail in any conflict.
The Trade Marks Registry has begun a Special Disposal Drive for opposition proceedings where parties want to withdraw the application or opposition or have settled. Hearings are on every working Friday from 4 September till December 2026, in hybrid mode, taken up by the filing year of the trade mark application.
By a public notice dated 31 August 2026, the Office of the CGPDTM moved the last date for completing mandatory e-KYC from 31 August to 30 September 2026 and said no further extension would be granted. That date has now passed. An earlier notice had warned of inconvenience or disruption in availing the Office’s services.
The Trade Marks Registry’s draft Manual of Trade Marks — Practice & Procedure runs to seven chapters, from filing to renewal. Chapter 7 sorts user evidence into “primary” and “secondary” documents and sets out the well-known mark procedure under rule 124. It is a draft, not final practice.
The Office of the CGPDTM has published a Draft Manual of Patent Office Practice and Procedure, version 4.0, 2026. It codifies procedure from filing to grant, opposition, renewal and compulsory licensing. The preface says it does not constitute rule making and does not have the force of law. It is a draft, not a final manual.
The Office of the CGPDTM has published Guidelines for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Patent Examination Procedures. They list 12 typical uses with risks and safeguards, six prohibited uses — including feeding unpublished applications into public AI tools — and provide for an AI Governance Committee.
The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks has announced a tentative schedule: the Trade Marks Agent Examination 2027 is likely on 9 January 2027 (Saturday) and the Patent Agent Examination 2027 on 10 January 2027 (Sunday), at 15 centres. Both have Paper I, Paper II and a viva voce.
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