India has registered the logos of the iconic ‘Toy Train’ of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) internationally as its intellectual property. It means that the use of these logos anywhere in the world will now require written permission from India and the payment of a fee.
- The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway , which opened in 1881, more than 140 years ago, has two logos, both of which have been patented. One has “DHR” in bold black, intertwined letters; the other is a circular seal with a picture of mountains, forests and a river, with “Darjeeling Himalayan Railway” in white lettering on a green background around it.
- The Mountain Railways of India (DHR, Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka Shimla Railway) was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.
Process of registering logos
- The Railway Ministry in Delhi and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway office in Kurseong (West Bengal), initiated the process of registering the logo with the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry in August 2021.
- The claim was then sent to Geneva based UN agency World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). The process is in line with with the procedure laid down in WIPO’s Vienna Classification (VCL).
- There is a six-month window to register any counter-claims, following which the Indian government’s claim will receive international approval.
(Source: Indian Express)
GS TIMES IAS PRELIMS 2022 CURRENT AFFAIRS BASICS DAILY ONLINE TEST SERIES: HINDI AND ENGLISH
CLICK HERE DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS QUIZ FOR STATE CIVIL SERVICES
