Parliament passes bill to enforce standards of weights, measures

The Legal Metrology Bill 2009 was moved by Minister of State for Consumer Affairs K V Thomas in the Lok Sabha amidst uproar over the Telangana issue and was adopted by voice vote in the din without any debate.
The Rajya Sabha had passed the legislation on December 1.

The bill aims at combining the provisions of the Standards of Weights and Measures Act 1976 and the Standards of Weights and Measures (Enforcement) Act 1985.

It provides for regulation of weight or measure used in transaction, approval of model of weight or measure, verification of prescribed weight or measure by government approved test centre and prescribing qualification of legal metrology officers appointed by the central or the state governments.

The minister had earlier in Rajya Sabha allayed apprehensions that the Bill would snatch the powers of state governments and said it was prepared after consultation with the state governments and all stake holders. P

Lok Sabha nod to amended trade mark law

A person seeking global trade mark now need not apply for it in several countries incurring a big cost, as Lok Sabha today amended the trade mark law to simplify the procedures.
The Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill 2009 for simplifying the trade marks registration procedure was passed after Minister of State for Commerce Jyotiraditya Scindia moved it for passage amidst a din over the Telangana issue.
The bill was adopted by voice vote with almost the entire opposition walking out protesting over the way in which it was being passed without a debate.

According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the bill, anyone seeking registration of a trade mark in different countries now has to make separate applications in different languages and pay different fees. The present law has no provision to facilitate Indian and foreign nationals to secure simultaneous protection of their trade marks in different countries.

The Madrid Protocol, which is a cost-effective system for international registration of trade marks, enables nationals of its member countries to obtain trade mark registration within 18 months by filing a single application with one fee and one language in their country of origin. This in turn is transmitted to other designated countries.

India's accession to the protocol entails changes in the law. For this, a new chapter was being included in it for protecting international registration of trade marks, according to the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill.