Mumbai: 10 years after then Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s first announcement in parliament, the national headquarter of Controller General of Patents, Designs and TradeMarks (CGPDTM) in Mumbai is set to shift to New Delhi shortly, official sources said.
The new CGPDTM base will be at the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) Dwarka Building along with the top brass, decision-makers and their key aides, numbering around 30, from Mumbai.
“The shifting process is at an advanced stage. A notification to the effect is expected shortly from the Centre. Barring the headquarters, the other affiliated offices shall continue to function with limited authority from Mumbai,” a top official told 'The Perfect Voice'.
Presently, the office is headed by Prof. Unnat P. Pandit of Gujarat, who was appointed to the prestigious and powerful position through the Lateral Entry Scheme of the centre.
The official said that Mumbai was chosen over 80 years ago for the CGPDTM given its emerging financial importance, and a few years later, it got a permanent home at the IPO Building in Antop Hill, staffed by around 275 people.
“The new move could impact many of the stakeholders, but its exact short-and-long term repercussions are yet to be analyzed,” said the official guardedly.
Nevertheless, he hinted at challenges arising out of the absence of a full-fledged IP-centric ecosystem with quick access to legal-technical expertise besides logistical difficulties pertaining to filings, hearings, consultations, etc.
Interestingly, a few months ago, there was a purported move to transplant the CGPDTM headquarter to Ahmedabad, but owing to local political opposition it was shelved.
Thereafter, it was decided to shift it to New Delhi, and a letter to the effect was finally in Dec. 2024 from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, currently headed by Mumbai North MP, Piyush Goyal.
A Mumbai businessman Santosh Deshpande, who is active in the IPR movement said the country’s commercial capital and Maharashtra stand to forfeit yet another crucial department, on the lines of many others in the past 10 years or so.
“It is surprising that Goyal, who is also a Mumbaikar, has allowed a free hand to his ministry to transfer such an important department out to New Delhi. This has unnerved various collaborators and innovators connected with the industry, academia, legal professionals, Indian and global research organisations, etc. They all contribute to shaping India’s IP framework and effective enforcement,” pointed out Deshpande.
India currently ranks among the top 10 countries globally for Patents.
“For the record, the Head Office of Trademark and Patent office Mumbai shall continue working from the city. It is only the office with the administration and finance division that will be based in Delhi.”
Piyush Goyal, Union Minister, Commerce
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