Aaditya says patents office being moved from Mumbai to Delhi; Goyal says 'half-baked' info

Mumbai, Feb 13 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday latched on a Commerce Ministry order to claim the Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks' office is being moved to Delhi and accused Union minister Piyush Goyal of betraying Mumbai.

The office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM), which functions under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is located in Mumbai. The agency is responsible for administering the Intellectual Property Laws in India.

Taking to X, Thackeray claimed the CGPDTM office is being shifted to New Delhi and posted a picture of the Commerce Ministry order dated December 3, 2024, to back his assertion.

Hitting back, Goyal said Thackeray's "aggression" was premature and armed with half-baked information.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA from Worli alleged every act of the BJP was meant to insult Mumbai, and then rub salt on its wounds.

"What a shameful act by a minister, elected as MP by Mumbai. The man betraying Mumbai that elected him. The same minister feels that our states shouldn't ask for our fair share of funds from the centre for our contribution to the Union Govt," the former state minister said.

Goyal, the BJP Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai North, slammed Thackeray.

"This over-enthusiastic attack establishes why the people of Maharashtra deemed you unfit to govern them anymore," the Union Commerce and Industry Minister said in a post on X.

"For the record, the Head Office of Trademark and Patent office Mumbai shall continue working from the city. It is only the office of @cgpdtm_india with the administration and finance division that will be based in Delhi," Goyal asserted.

The Union minister emphasised the Modi government wants a better alignment and functional augmentation with the department to support India's innovators and entrepreneurs.

"The reason for that (moving administration and finance division to Delhi) is a process completely alien to your party and its style of misgovernance. The Modi government wants a better alignment and functional augmentation with the department to support India's innovators and entrepreneurs," Goyal added.