Written by Ronsiya Roy, Legal Intern, and Verified by Sunil Jose, Managing Attorney, Suns Legal.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry recently published notifications to bring into force the amendments to provisions of Intellectual Property Laws from 1st August 2024.

The ‘Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act of 2023’ amended and decriminalized almost 183 provisions of 42 central acts, including the four major Intellectual Property (IP) legislations, namely, The Patent Act, 1970, The Trademark Act, 1999, The Copyright Act, 1957, and The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. The Lok Sabha passed the bill on 27th June 2023, and the Rajya Sabha passed it on 2nd August 2023. The Act received the President’s assent on 11th August 2023.

The Parliament passed the Jan Vishwas Act to decriminalize minor offenses, enhance trust-based governance, ease the business process in India, and strike a balance between Intellectual Property (IP) rights and innovation. The act has changed the punishments for several offenses in the IP statutes. Additionally, Section 3 of the Jan Vishwas Act mandates a 10% increase in the minimum fine or penalty prescribed in various acts after the expiry of every three years from the act’s commencement date.

In the Patent Act, the Jan Vishwas Act (hereinafter referred to as the amendment act) increased the penalty for an unauthorized claim of patent rights (“If any person falsely claims that his article is patented in India or is the subject of an application for a patent”) from 1 lakh to 10 lakh rupees, with an additional 1000 rupees if the claim continues. The amendment act also changed the penalty for practice by non-registered patent agents, with the new penalty being 5 lakh rupees, and a further penalty of 1000 rupees for continuing default.

Further, the amendment act reduced the penalty for refusal or failure to supply information to the central government or the controller under Section 122(1) of the Patent Act. The amendment reduced the penalty from 10 lakh rupees to 1 lakh rupees, with an additional 1000 rupees if the refusal continues. Additionally, Section 122(2) was decriminalized, and hence, the person liable under Section 122(1) will now face only a fine, whereas, under the previous provision, the person could also be imprisoned for up to 6 months.

The amendment act omitted the punishment for the wrongful use of “patent office” under the Patents Act (Section 121), the penalty for improperly describing a place of business as connected with the trademarks office (Section 108) under the Trademark Act, and the penalty for improperly describing a place of business as connected with the GI registry (Section 43) under the Geographical Indication of Goods Act.

The amendment act omitted Section 68 of the Copyright Act. This section provided for the disposal of infringing copies or plates used to make infringing copies. Similarly, Section 106 of the Trademark Act, which provides a penalty for removing the piece of goods contrary to Section 81, was also omitted.

The amendment act decriminalized falsely representing a registered trademark, as provided under Section 107(2), and omitted Section 109 of the Trademark Act, which prescribed a penalty for falsifying entries in the register. Additionally, the penalty imposed under Section 140(3), which provided for the power to require information if imported goods bear false trademarks, is increased to 10,000 rupees, and the authority under the Customs Act will now recover this penalty.  

Like the Trademark Act, the Amendment Act decriminalized falsely representing a Geographical Indication (GI) as registered under the GI of Goods Act. The punishment now involves only a fine, replacing the previous legislation’s provision of imprisonment for up to three years, a fine, or both. Additionally, the amendment removed the penalty for falsification of entries in the GI register provided in Section 44.

The amendment added new provisions for adjudicating penalties and appeals in the Patent Act, Trademark Act, and the GI Act. Under these provisions, the Registrar of  Trademark and GI and the Controller of Patents are empowered to authorize an officer, by order, to be the adjudicating officer for hearing matters and imposing penalties. Furthermore, the amendment allows for appeals against the decision of the adjudicating officer within sixty days from the date of receipt of the order. The amendment mandates that appeal must be heard and disposed of within sixty days of filing. Therefore, the Central Government has the authority to make rules regarding the manner of holding an inquiry and the form and manner of appeal.

Author’s comments

The decriminalization and amendment of various provisions of four IP statutes through the Jan Vishwas Act aim to promote innovation, ease of living, and ease of doing business in India. The decriminalization of several provisions in the Patent Act, Trademark Act, and GI Act is an attempt by the government to attract more investors and foster a smooth IP regime in the country. The true intention of the legislature will be achieved through the timely implementation of the amendment. However, the act’s failure to decriminalize a few provisions of the Copyright Act, which involve similar trivial offenses, requires further clarity. Additionally, the amendment omitted the penalty for making false entries in the trademark and GI registries, whereas a similar provision in the Copyright Act is not included under the amendment. Thus, while the amendment is a progressive step toward promoting a more business-friendly environment and reducing the burden on courts, several areas of IP rights and liabilities require a more comprehensive and holistic review.