2.2.1 The Trade Marks Act, 1999

The Trade Marks Act, 1999 (‘the Trade Mark Act’) provides for registration and protection of trade marks for goods and services and prevent use of fraudulent marks.
As per Section 2(zb) of the Trade Marks Act, "trade mark" means a mark capable of being represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one person from those of others and may include shape of goods, their packaging and combination of colours.
Under section 18 of the Trade Mark Act, any person claiming to be the proprietor of a trade mark, used or proposed to be used by him, may apply for the registration and on registration, under section 28 thereof, registered proprietor of the trade mark acquires exclusive right to use same in relation to the goods in respect of which the trade mark is registered and to obtain relief in respect of the infringement of the trade mark. As per section 38 of the Trade Marks Act, registered trade marks can be assigned and transmitted to another person and on the registration of such assignment and transmission, such person becomes the proprietor of trade marks or registered proprietor.
As per section 27 of the Trade Marks Act, proprietor of unregistered trade mark does not get any exclusive right of use and therefore he can not be considered as IPR holder. Therefore, only the registered proprietor of the registered trade mark can be considered as IPR holder.
Further, as per section 48 of the Trade Marks Act, a person other than registered proprietor of a trade mark may be registered as the registered user on the execution of a written contract between the registered proprietor and proposed registered user and such registered user will be entitled to use and enjoy the benefit of the trade mark.