Prosecuting And Defending Civil Suits For Infringement Of Trademarks Patent, Designs And Copyrights

Trademark — There is a lacuna in filing a criminal case against the seller of the counterfeit product, till the time of conviction for the offense the offender is free to deal and trade in the counterfeit products. He may abscond. Police Investigations and Charge sheet filed by Police hardly ever finds/uncovers the whole supply chain of infringing Goods. The possible step proprietor can take is to file a civil suit simultaneously along with the criminal complaint in a particular case where infringement of trademark has been done. The advantage of doing this is that the by initiating a criminal complaint, seizure of counterfeit product can be done while civil suit helps to restrict the sale of the same while the matter is pending before the court.

Copyright–By filing for copyright against Logos and Designs, similar charges under the Copyright Act could be framed against the offenders instead of bringing an action for a trademark infringement. Still, if there is involvement of only trademark infringement, then the proprietor should press for carrying out a raid at the right time for such counterfeit products before taking an opinion from the Registry which is required only at the evidence stage or before filing the charge sheet.

If a patent holder fails to act to bring an infringement claim in a timely manner, and that failure to act causes the accused infringer to incur additional damages, the defences of laches or estoppel may be available.