Applications for registering trademark increasing 12% annually

The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks under the Commerce Ministry has received over 1.94 lakh applications from industries for registering their trademarks in the last fiscal and it is growing at 12% annually, a top official said today.

"In the last fiscal, a total of 1,94,216 applications for registering trademarks were received. It was higher than the previous year and growing at 12%," Chaitanya Prasad, Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks told reporters here on the sidelines of a function here.

His office also received over 45,000 applications for patents and 25,000 applications for geographical indications, he said.

Prasad said the growth in the number of applications also reflected positively on the government. "Through fee alone, we have generated Rs 250 crore. While the Ministry is paying us Rs 50 crore to run the show, we give back Rs 250 crore."

He also referred to India's agreeing to the 'Madrid System of Trademarks,' which has 90 countries on board in terms of intellectual property.

"We want more Indian companies to register for their trademarks. It should be two way where both Indian as well as foreign companies would benefit. Else, the foreign companies alone would benefit," he said.