Trademark lawyers and researchers rely extensively on the Public Search and E-Register features of the Trademarks Registry’s website. But often it gets excruciatingly slow and painful to access the desired information owing to the massive bulk of traffic and other issues with the Trademark Registry’s servers in place. Acknowledging this issue, the office of Controller General of Patent Design and Trademark (CGPDTM) has issued a public notice announcing the unavailability of the Trademark Public Search feature and the E-register feature from 10 AM to 4:30 PM on all working days from September 14. The short pubic notice, titled “Public Notice for TM Application” states:-
“Due to the increased load on the TM application and database servers, the core functions of the TM Registry are affected. Till up gradation of hardware and software are completed, the TM public search and E-register will not be available from 10 AM to 4:30 PM w.e.f. 14.09.2023 on all working days.“
The ambivalent equitation between Indian IP Offices and their respective websites is not new. Whether it’s the now scrapped IPAB website or the CGPDTM, we have seen these offices, responsible for promoting scientific and technological innovation in the country, struggle with such glitches in their websites multiple times in the past. However, a major issue here is that the notice was published just one day before the sudden news to limit access to these important features and the notice does not even give an estimated duration for this restriction. Hopefully, this move to upgrade the software and hardware will end these frequently popping issues and will ensure seamless access to the registry’s database soon.
