By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, DEC 05, 2019: WHILE replying to a question in the Lok Sabha yesterday, the Commerce & Industry Minister, Mr Piyush Goyal, said that the primary responsibility for investigating the complaints of manufacturing and trading of counterfeit products rests with the concerned state police. Adequate provisions exist in the various laws for dealing with counterfeit products and those who are engaged in the business of pirated goods.

The Trade Marks Act, 1999 provides for penalty for applying false trade marks & trade descriptions and for selling goods to which a false trademark or trade descriptions is applied. It also contains provisions for falsifying or the false application of trademarks, false trade descriptions, etc. under sections 101,102,103,104 & 105 of the said Act. The remedies available under the act relate to the protection of the Intellectual Property Rights inherent in a trademark and provide both civil and criminal remedies for registered trademark owner. Action against piracy of product of registered brands, resulting in infringement of rights has to be taken in appropriate courts for securing civil and criminal remedies. The onus of initiating action against infringement of trademarks lies upon the owner of the registered trademark who can move the civil and criminal court for redressal.

Section 101-105 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 also provide for  penalty for falsifying and falsely applying trademarks. Offences under sections 103,104 & 105 are cognizable and the period of imprisonment provided is not less than six months with a maximum 3 years and with minimum fine of Rs. 50,000 which may extend to Rs.2,00,000. The court may also grant an injunction under Section 135 of the Trade Marks Act,1999 by which a person is required to perform or is restrained from performing a particular act like stopping the sale of counterfeit product or destroying them.

The India Penal Code, 1860 also contains provisions to deal with counterfeiting and piracy. The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 can also be invoked by the consumer against the counterfeiters by filing complaints in the appropriate consumer court. The Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 also contains penalties those who use the standards (ISI) Mark without obtaining the requisite license. The bureau investigates and detects the case of misuse of the ISI Mark and prosecutes the offenders wherever required.
In the case of food and drugs, the offence is cognizable and police on complaint of anyone can take action against the offenders.