LATEST NEWS

China’s Anti-Monopoly enforcement agencies named July 21, 2008
Commission cracks down on collecting societies July 21, 2008
eBay not responsible for policing counterfeits, says US court July 21, 2008
European Commission’s IPR strategy focuses on SMEs July 21, 2008
Musicians welcome plan to extend copyright term in Europe July 21, 2008
Payless ordered to stop using American Eagle brand July 21, 2008
Reform dominates list of 50 most influential people July 21, 2008
Taiwan ends compulsory licensing dispute with Philips July 21, 2008

This article is FREE access as part of MIP Week, a weekly email newsletter written by the editors of Managing Intellectual Property magazine. Take a two week trial to MIP and find many more related articles.

Indian IP official arrested on bribery charge

Peter Ollier, Hong Kong

Anti-corruption officials in India have arrested the deputy registrar of the Trade Mark Registry in Chennai on suspicion of accepting a bribe of Rs10,000 ($235)

In a statement, the anti-corruption wing of the government watchdog, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), said that it arrested M C Gupta on Monday May 5 after he was reported to have demanded and accepted a bribe from IP practitioner C Daniel.

The statement said that Daniel had lodged a complaint with the CBI after being asked for a bribe by M C Gupta. It added that Daniel had complained that the official had threatened that unless the money was paid he would pass adverse orders against him.

The CBI said that its officials searched the residence and office of the deputy registrar following his arrest and found Rs300,000 ($7,000) in cash.

According to the statement, the Principal Special Judge for CBI cases in Chennai has sent M C Gupta to jail.

Naresh Prasad, joint secretary in the Department of Industrial Property and Promotion – which overseas the work of India’s regional IP offices – told Managing IP in an emailed statement that "corruption is not rampant in the patents and trade marks offices in India".

He added: "There have been no complaints about the patent offices though once in a while we do get complaints about the trade mark office. This happens to be one such stray case."

But lawyers who spoke to Managing IP on condition of anonymity said that they believed that corruption is still widespread among lower and middle level officials at the country’s patent and trade mark offices.

Another lawyer, Akash Chittranshi, partner of aca-law, said that trade mark lawyers need to take some responsibility to help eradicate the problem: "You cannot clap with one hand – it is up to the registries and law firms to work together to limit this problem."

A partner at another Indian IP law firm agreed, stating that "practitioners and lawyers need to be patient with the process, which has been and is continuously changing for the better".

Prasad said that improving technology systems in the offices should help reduce the problem: "Our efforts at implementing the total IT solution in the patent and trade mark offices are primarily aimed at eliminating the possibilities of corruption that may be part of the system."

The April cover story of Managing IP looks how India’s government and businesses are reforming the country’s IP system.