Introduction: The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 received the assent of the President on the 11th August, 2023. The Bill was first introduced in Lok Sabha on 22nd December, 2022 and further referred to the Joint Committee of the Parliament for discussion, which adopted its report on 13th March, 2023. The Lok Sabha passed the Bill on 27th June, 2023 and following suit, the same was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 2nd August, 2023.
Object: It is an Act to amend certain acts for decriminalizing and rationalizing offences to further enhance trust-based governance for ease of living and doing business. It decriminalizes 183 provisions in 42 central Acts pertaining to agriculture, commerce, defence, economic affairs, information technology, environment, health, transportation, and more, overseen by different Ministries and Departments.
Implications: The provisions of the Act indicate a pragmatic trend towards minimizing imprisonment and fines, and their conversion into penalties. At the same time, compounding of offences has been introduced along with enhancement of fines in some selected provisions. The Act is innovative and novel as it establishes Adjudicating Officers, Appellate Authorities and a periodic increase in the quantum of fines in certain acts. The fines and penalties in some provisions shall be increased by ten per cent after every three years from the date of commencement of the Act.
Amendments relating to Intellectual Property Right statutes:
The Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 creates several implications for Intellectual Property Rights including laws and statutes governing the said rights. While the shift to escalation of fines is a relief for some as it will decrease instances of imprisonment, however, it will ensure strict compliance and governance of the IP sector, casting a heavy financial burden on defaulters. Moreover, the freshly added provisions for adjudication and appeal of penalties will provide ease of business and relatively smooth litigation.
The Act has also seeks to amend various Intellectual Property (IP) Rights laws namely, the Copyrights Rights Act 1957, the Trade Marks Act 1999, the Patents Act 1970 and the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act 1999.
The amendments in provisions for the above Acts highlight a key change in the following ways:
(i) Omission of some sections that criminalized falsification of register and statements with punishment of imprisonment and fines.
(ii) Substitution of punishment of imprisonment and fine with an increased quantum of fine.
(iii) Insertion of sections and sub-clause which establish a novel procedure for Appeal, Adjudication of penalties by Registrar,
Coming into Force: The Government of India is yet to provide a date for the notification of the Act and the date of the Act coming into force. As the Act seeks to amend 42 different legislations, different notifications may be appointed for amendments relating to different legislations as per the Schedule. Therefore, each amendment can be expected to be notified independently. For instance, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has passed notifications to this effect which contemplate that the provisions of the Act applicable for Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 shall be effective from 1st April, 2024.
Below is a chart / table highlighting the comparative analysis of the amendments to Intellectual Property Statutes relating to trade mark law, patent law and copyright law.
(KEY: “Adjudicating Officer” as “AO”; “Appellate Authority” as “AA”)
| Act | Old Provisions | Amendments |
| The Copyright Act, 1957 | S.68-Penalty for making false statements for the purpose of deceiving or influencing any authority or officer— Penalized falsification of statements for deception, influence, procurement etc. with 1 year imprisonment/ fine or both. | OMITTED |
| The Trade Marks Act, 1999 | S.106 -Penalty for removing piece goods, etc., contrary to section 81 Penalized sale/possession for sale for goods u/s 81 (omitted) with forfeiture and fine upto one thousand rupees.
S. 107(2)– Penalty for falsely representing a Trade Mark as registered penalized with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 years/fine/both.
S. 108 Penalty for improperly describing a place of business as connected with the Trade Marks Office— penalized with imprisonment for a term extendable to 2 years/fine/both.
S. 109-Penalty for falsification of entries in the Register—Penalized knowingly making falsification of entries in the Register imprisonment extendable to 2 years/fine/both.
S. 140(3)– Power to require Information of Imported Goods bearing False Trade Marks failure comply punishable with fine of up to Rs 500/-.
S. 157-Power to Make Rules in sub-section (2), after clause (xxxiii)
| OMITTED
SUBSTITUTED with penalty of Rs. 25, 000-1,00,000/-
OMITTED
OMITTED
INSERTED- “112A–Adjudication of Penalties. — Registrar can impose penalty. Penalty of Rs. 1,00,000/- or imprisonment extendable to 1 year/both.
SUBSTITUTED with: — “(3) Penalty changed to Rs 10,000/-; fine.
INSERTED:(xxxiiia);(xxxiiib)-the manner of recovery of penalty and appeal u/s 112A (1) & 112B (2).
|
| The Patents Act, 1970. | S. 120-Unauthorized claim of patent rights—False representation of article sold being patented in India/ subject of an application for a patent in India penalized with fine extendable to Rs 1,00,000/-
S.121-Wrongful use of words “patent office”—Wrongful use to establish connection with “patent office” penalized with imprisonment for a term extendable to 6 months/fine/both.
S. 122-Refusal or Failure to Supply Information——(1) If any person refuses or fails to furnish—under ss. (5) of S.100; (b) to the Controller u/s 146, he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to Rs 10,00,000/-. (2) Furnishing of false information under ss. (1), penalized with imprisonment extendable to 6 months/fine/both.
S. 123-Practice by Non-Registered Patent Agents—Contravention of section 129, 1st instance –penalized with fine extendable to Rs 1,00,000/- 2nd /subsequent offence. – extendable to Rs. 5,00,000/-
After S. 124-Offence by Companies
S. 159– Power of Central Govt. to Make Rules in sub-section (2), after clause (xiii), | SUBSTITUTED penalized with fine extend to Rs. 10,00,000/- Further penalty of Rs. 10,000/- for every day claim continues.
OMITTED
SUBSTITUTED with namely: penalty extendable to Rs 1,00,000/- Continuing Refusal- further penalty of Rs. 1,000/- for every day after the first such refusal continues.
SUBSTITUTED with penalty less than Rs. 25,00,000/-.
SUBSTITUTED with 1st instance –penalized with fine extendable to Rs. 5,00,000/-
Continuing default- further penalized of Rs. 1,000/- for every day after the first during which such default continues”.
INSERTED: 124A. Adjudication of penalties. — AO authorized can hold inquiry, impose penalty. 124B. Appeal. — (1) Appeal to officer one rank above the AO, in 60 days of receipt of order. Penalty +fine of Rs 1,00,000/- OR imprisonment extendable to 1 year/both. “(xiiia) the manner of imposing penalty under sub-section (1) of section 124A;” |
| The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 | After S. 37-Meaning of Applying Geographical Indications
S.42(2)-Penalty for Falsely Representing a Geographical Indication as Registered Contravention of sub-section (1) penalized with imprisonment extendable to 3 years/fine/both.
S.43-Penalty for Improperly Describing a Place of Business as Connected with the Geographical Indications Registry Penalized with imprisonment extendable to 2 years/fine/both.
S.44-Penalty for Falsification of Entries in the Register –Falsification of entries in Register penalized with imprisonment extendable to 2 years/fine/both.
S.87(2)-Power to Make Rules-After clause (o)
| INSERTED: 37A. Adjudication of penalties. — AO can hold inquiry and impose penalty. 37B. Appeal. — (1) Appeal to officer one rank above AO in 60 days of order. Penalty +fine of Rs 1,00,000/- OR imprisonment extendable to 1 year/both.
SUBSTITUTED with penalized with 1/2 per cent of the total sales/ turnover/the gross receipts computed in the audited accounts of such person, OR Rs 25,00,000/-, whichever is less”
OMITTED
OMITTED
INSERTED: “(oa), (ob) the manner of holding inquiry & imposing penalty u/s 37A and appeal u/s 37B(2). |
Conclusion: To put it in brief, this Act is a stepping stone towards better governance and effective compliance in business operations. It can be expected that the Act will significantly decrease IP violations owing to the noteworthy enlargement of fines, and facilitate prompt initiation of procedure of appeal and adjudication, and instantaneous disposal of the same.
By : Roopan Atwal, Advocate
