The administration and finance divisions of the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks (CGPDTM) are relocating from Mumbai to Delhi, while the headquarters remain in Mumbai. As India’s central authority for IP policy, regulation, and enforcement, CGPDTM plays a crucial role in international collaborations and stakeholder coordination. The shift aims to enhance administrative efficiency, though concerns have been raised about its broader implications.

The report is accessible here.

A gazette notification was issued on December 26, 2024 by the Lieutenant governor in accordance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, as well as Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 appointing the Delhi Police to be the nodal agency to perform the functions of regulating the digital content hosted or published on intermediary platforms within NCT Delhi. The gazette notification can be accessed here.

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) issued their Advisory for LinkedIn content creators/ influencers, requiring disclosure of material connections between themselves and the products, services, or advertisers they promote. As per the Advisory, this nondisclosure constitutes a breach of the ASCI Code, the Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media, and the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) Guidelines. The Advisory also requires that disclosures made by such LinkedIn influencers should be clear, upfront, and prominently displayed and warns that non-compliance, repeated violations will result in escalation to regulatory authorities for necessary action.

The ASCI Advisory is available here.

The guidelines, developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) under the supervision of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, aim at promoting self-regulation among e-commerce platforms. The guidelines have been released with an aim to protect consumers from potential fraud in the fast-growing digital shopping industry and are open for stakeholder comments by February 20, 2025.

The link for the official draft guidelines is provided here.

The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, with “The Trade Marks Yatra” on December 30, 2024. The event will feature a commemorative logo and continuing webinars on key topics and landmark judgements in Trade Marks Law, the Madrid System and significant court rulings. The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks also invites stakeholders to share their success story via email to mumbai.tmr@nic.in by December 20, 2024.

The link for the public notice is provided here.