Rahul Adey

Intellectual Property Attorney & Strategist | India & Global | Enabling Businesses to Protect, Scale Strategically, and Leverage Intellectual Assets

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

@PromodGeorge @GabbbarSingh Certainly not. But acknowledging quick commerce as a stopgap source of income for people whom the formal job market is not absorbing is different from suggesting that the economy should depend on it.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

That criticism is valid. But the formal job market was also not absorbing many people because their education had not translated into employable skills. These platforms at least created an immediate earning option. Even modest income can ease financial pressure and restore some confidence and independence. That does not excuse low pay or weak protection, but the stopgap value of such work should not be dismissed.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

@GabbbarSingh True. I was referring more to whether formalisation can reduce the social stigma attached to such work, even if the economics remain unchanged.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

@arpit_vermaniac Not every observation is neutral merely because the criticism is left unstated.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

@warikoo @arpit_vermaniac What's the harm even if AI has been used to refine your thought. The tool has been developed for that.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

@theskindoctor13 BJP should treat this post of yours as your resume for the job of their social media head. No one has articulated BJP's perception issue this clearly.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

Perhaps the deeper problem is that corruption is not confined only to governments. The same instinct appears in everyday life when we use influence to bypass rules, avoid responsibility, take credit for someone else’s work or reward loyalty over merit.

And when the person who plays fair is delayed, overworked or overlooked, gaming the system gradually starts looking less like wrongdoing and more like the practical way to survive.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

Doing business in China? Your trademark registration may soon require more active management.

China’s comprehensive revision of its Trademark Law, adopted on June 26, 2026 and effective from January 01, 2027, introduces a stronger focus on genuine use, proper use, timely monitoring, and reliable evidence.

The changes are relevant to businesses worldwide that manufacture, export, license, sell online, or operate in China. They are also particularly important for Indian companies expanding into the Chinese market or working with Chinese manufacturers, distributors, and e-commerce platforms.

Key changes businesses should know:

Moving signs can now be registered as trademarks.
App startup animations, short video opening sequences, and other moving brand identifiers may qualify for registration, provided they are distinctive, identify the commercial source, and are not dictated by the nature or function of the relevant goods.

Online use is expressly recognised as trademark use.
Use through e-commerce platforms, websites, live streaming, short videos, and other information networks may support trademark enforcement and help defend registrations against non-use revocation.

Businesses should therefore retain reliable records of online use, including transaction records, website captures, platform listings, and dated promotional material.

The opposition period has been shortened.
The period for opposing a preliminarily approved trademark will be reduced from three months to two months.

Brand owners and trademark watch services will need to identify conflicting applications, assess the risk, and gather supporting evidence more quickly.

The trademark authority may initiate the revocation of unused marks.
The Chinese trademark authority will have the power to revoke a registration on its own initiative where the mark has become generic or has not been genuinely used for three consecutive years without a valid reason.

Detailed implementation measures are still expected, but businesses should review defensive and inactive registrations and maintain organised evidence of genuine use.

Protection for well-known trademarks has been expanded.
A trademark that qualifies as well-known may receive protection against conflicting marks covering dissimilar goods even where the well-known mark is not registered in China.

Such protection will remain subject to the statutory requirements, including likely public misunderstanding and harm to the interests of the well-known trademark owner.

Stronger action can be taken against improper trademark filings.
Applications filed without an intention to use the mark and in quantities that obviously exceed normal business requirements may be refused.

Where malicious applications cause adverse impacts, the authorities may also issue warnings and impose fines of up to RMB 100,000.

Misleading use of registered marks may attract significant penalties.
Using a registered trademark in a manner that misleads the public about the characteristics, composition, function, or quality of goods may result in fines of up to five times the illegal business turnover or RMB 250,000.

Failure to rectify the misleading use within the prescribed period may also lead to revocation of the registration.

The one-year restriction on refiling has been narrowed.
The one-year restriction on approving an identical or similar mark will generally apply only where the earlier owner voluntarily cancelled the registration.

Where an earlier registration has been revoked, declared invalid, or allowed to expire without renewal, a new application may be filed without waiting for the previous one-year period to end.

The practical message for businesses is clear: securing a trademark registration in China remains important, but maintaining effective rights will increasingly depend on genuine use, proper records, and prompt action against conflicting filings. Businesses with existing or planned trademark portfolios in China should review their filing strategy, use-evidence practices, and opposition monitoring arrangements before January 01, 2027.

This update has been prepared based on inputs from our associate IP counsels in China. The implications for individual portfolios may depend on the specific facts and the forthcoming implementation measures.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

@GabbbarSingh Write every message as though it may one day be read aloud in court, and conduct yourself in public as though the CCTV footage may one day be played there :)

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

@kkstau According to the wokes, celebrities stayed silent for 16 days out of strategy, then all discovered their conscience together on Day 17. Pure coincidence, obviously.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

@GabbbarSingh The irony is that employees drawing salaries from a founder’s company may get home loans easily, while the founder who built the company and pays those salaries is treated as too risky 🙄

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

@theskindoctor13 As long as India keeps glorifying farmers, milkmen, roadside food sellers, sabziwalas, hawkers etc...as automatically poor and helpless, wrongdoing will keep getting a free pass. Sympathy cannot replace scrutiny and accountability.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

One of the reasons I enjoy working in patents is the opportunity to see innovation before the rest of the world does.

Most inventions reach a patent practitioner while they are still taking shape. The technical details are often still being refined, and the inventor may still be working out what makes the solution different. By the time the same invention becomes visible through a product or a published patent application, much of this early work has already taken place.

What keeps the work engaging is the range of technologies and technical problems involved. Each matter brings a different technical context, a different set of constraints, and a different route to the solution. Each inventor also approaches a problem differently. That combination keeps the work from becoming predictable.

Experiencing ideas while they are still taking shape and understanding the different paths that led to them remains one of the most rewarding parts of patent practice.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

@AspiredAnita @GabbbarSingh @zomato I actually had to get into comments section to check for the brand :)

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

@aviralbhat This is precisely where Intellectual Property protection comes into play.

Patents for the tech or process and trademarks for the brand names can keep these infringers away. Even these online platforms have to honour the IP rights.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

Hello @Milkbasketin how many months you generally take to resolve a delivery issue? I am struggling to get a resolution for an ongoing issue.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

AI is triggering a self-correcting response in the patent system.

Generative AI has made patent filings significantly easier, leading to higher volumes of applications. At the same time, major patent offices worldwide are adopting AI tools to strengthen prior art searches, making it harder to clear patentability requirements.

The system appears to be developing its own technological counterbalance.

For applicants, the quality of invention, strategic positioning and pre-filing assessment will matter more than ever.

#IP #Patents #AI

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

@aviralbhat Great team and definitely something to admire. Hope India can also benefit from such diaspora excellence through stronger AI talent pipelines, collaborations, and capability-building at home.

[Rahul Adey @radeyip]

@pvsubramanyam Pune has this pattern

https://t.co/NOQbUpEBb1