he Trade Marks Registry of India has misplaced over 44,404 files while decentralising their office in Mumbai to open branches in other cities.

The TMR has now placed before the Delhi High Court a plan of corrective and preventive action after the court ordered a probe into the missing files. The organisation, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, found out that the files were missing when they failed to locate some files required for a court case. The Delhi High Court had ordered an enquiry at the level of the Secretary, Department of Industries, into the matter.

After conducting the enquiry, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, replied saying that the shifting of the files to other branches in 2006 might have resulted in some of the files getting lost. It said that the decentralisation of TMR, which was earlier headquartered at Mumbai, was one of the major reasons the files were missing. The department said that the other reasons for the missing files were the lack of scientific record-keeping practices in the branch registries and lack of due diligence by the TMR staff.

The DIPP has now promised that it will implement a scientific record-keeping scheme to ensure that all files are in order. Expressing his displeasure over the matter, Justice S. Muralidhar ordered, "This court directs that the said measures should be strictly implemented. In particular, where a file is not traceable and/or possibly misplaced, departmental action should be taken to fix the responsibility for negligence, and where malafide is prima facie established, an FIR should also be lodged."

The story of missing files came to light after a petition was filed by Haldiram Pvt. Ltd. asking for inspection of certain trademark registration and opposition files which were related to pending litigation in court. Hald-iram's was joined by several other parties. The petitioner's apprehension is that the files might have been deliberately misplaced and/or concealed in the office of the Registrar and/or destroyed by third parties in collusion with some officials of the TMR.

As for the missing Halidram files, the court was informed that an FIR has been filed with the police for further investigation. The Haldiram files will now be reconstructed through existing records of the trademark, either in trademark journals or the electronic database.