Opening Statement by India at the Thirty-ninth Session of the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) [April 23 to April 26, 2018] delivered by Sh. Animesh Choudhury, Second Secretary on 23rd April 2018 in WIPO HQ, Geneva.
Thank You Mr. Chair,
First of all, India would like to congratulate you for your re-election as the chair of the SCT and the Vice-Chairs for their election.
Mr. Chair,
2. India aligns itself with the statement delivered by Indonesia on behalf of the Asia Pacific Group.
3. The delegation of India believes that it is imperative that we should find common ground on the pending issues in the draft Design Law Treaty text, namely on the provision of technical assistance and mandatory disclosure requirements before the General Assembly this year.
Mr. Chair,
4. On protection of Graphical User Interface (GUI), Icon and Typeface/Type Font Designs, it is our understanding that it is a policy issue of individual member countries.
5. On International Non-proprietary Names (INNs), it is critical to ensure that trademarks that are similar to INNs or their common stems are not registered.
Mr. Chair,
6. India looks forward to the discussions on agenda items related to design protection for GUI, Typeface/ Type Fonts, protection of country names against registration and use as trademark, trademarks and INNs, update on trademark related aspects of Domain Name System, protection of country names and protection of nation brands.
7. We will make specific interventions on the agenda items as and when they come up for discussion.
Mr. Chair,
8. India looks forward to engaging and constructive discussions during the course of the deliberations in the 39th session of the SCT.
Thank You.
