Whether from the date of dispatch or on receipt by the applicant under the Trademarks Law
Recently, the Madras High Court, in an issue arising from the abandonment of a trademark application due to the failure to duly submit the counter-statement to a notice of opposition within the time period, held that the service of notice under the Trademark Act read with the Trademark Rules will only be complete when the e-mail is received by the applicant or the
applicant’s attorney and not when it is sent. This eliminates the ambiguity surrounding the phrase “at the time of sending the e-mail” under Rule 18(2) and brings it in line with Section 21(2), which provides that the date of filing the counter-statement is within 2 months from receipt of the copy of the notice of opposition.
The verdict is given in the case of Ramya S. Moorthy v. Register of Trademarks and Anr. W.P. (IPD) Nos. 1 & 2 of 2023, wherein emphasis is placed on the substantive right of the applicant, which is at stake if solely Rule 18(2) is taken into account.