Indian legislation covers patents, copyrights, trademarks, geographical indicators and industrial designs. The Patent Act 1970 has been amended several times to meet India’s commitments to the WTO, such as increasing the term of a patent to 20 years. Trademarks can be registered under the Trade Marks Act, 1999, which provides for registration of trademark for services in addition to goods, simplifies procedures, increases the registration period to 10 years and provides a six-month grace period for the payment of renewal fees. Copyrights are protected on published and unpublished literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and film works under the Copyright Act.
