The newly launched logo for Cost Accountants(CMAs), “iCMA”, launched by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI), is under opposition by a third party during the registration of the trademark.
New iCMA Logo
The “Institute of Certified Management Accountants”, New Jersey, USA has challenged the trademark of CMAs, under registration and the present status of the Application is ‘Opposed’.
“In this connection I am to invite your attention to Section 21(2)of the Act and also to Rule 44 of the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 and to point out that a counterstatement of the grounds, on which you /their application should be filed at this office in triplicate on Form TM-O(COUNTER STATEMENT) within two months from the receipt by you of the copy of the notice of opposition. The counter statement should also set out what facts if any, alleged in the notice of opposition are admitted by you/their applicants”, the Opposition Notice issued to the ICMAI stated.
However, on 1st December, an opposition counter statement was sent to the opponent, who opposed the registration of the trademary by the registrar of trademarks, stating that, “In pursuance of section 21(3) of Trade Marks Act 1999, I am directed by the Registrar of Trade Marks to send herewith a copy of the counterstatement filed in the above matter and to invite your attention to rule 45 of the Trade Marks Rules 2017. If no evidence in support of the opposition is left at this Registry, or if no intimation that the opponents do not desire to adduce any evidence is sent to this Registry, and to the applicants, within two months from the receipts hereof by you, The opposition will be deemed to have been abandoned vide Rule 45(2).”
“The Applicant is a vintage, time-hallowed, and well-established statutory body championing the academic and scholastic cause of educating and training Cost and Management Accountants since 1959:
The Applicant, formerly the “Institute of Costs and Works Accountants of India”, was first established in pre-Independent India in the year 1944 as a Registered Company under the erstwhile Companies Act which was in force in India at the time, with the object of mainstreaming, developing, promoting, and regulating the profession of Costs Accountancy and
Management Accounting in India. Later on, post-Independence, the Applicant was re-constituted and re-established on May 28, 1959 as the “Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India” by virtue of and under a special Act that was duly passed and enacted by the Parliament of India, namely the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959 (now amended).
Accordingly, the Applicant was thus re-constituted and re-structured as a statutory body under the mandate of the aforesaid subsequent Act, which espoused the objective of developing and propagating the profession of Cost and Management Accountancy in India.”, the Institute of Cost Accountants of India stated.
“CMA” is the acronym of a very specialized designation in the domain of Accounting and Finance, which stands for “Cost and Management Accountant”. The “CMA” designation signifies specially trained professionals who have expertise in Cost Accounting, Cost Management, Financial Accounting, and Strategic Management, the Institute further stated.
There is no real likelihood of confusion between the subject Mark “iCMA” and the Opponent Mark “CMA”, the institute contested in the reply dated 31/10/2023.
Notably, the “iCMA” logo was accepted and advertised in the Trade Marks Journal in No: 2110 , on 26/06/2023 under Class 41.
On a different note, the Registrar of Trademarks has accepted the ‘wordmark’ registration application, filed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for registering its new logo for the professional fraternity of Chartered Accountants (CAs), bearing the nationality within – “CA INDIA”.
Read More: New “CA INDIA” Logo Registration Application gets Accepted by Trademarks Authority
With both Institutes under scrutiny for the recently revamped logos, the stakeholders anticipate a positive turnout in the registration process and given the statutory nature and long-standing history of both the institutes, a positive outcome, recognising the trademark is most likely. Needless to note, the ICAI “CA INDIA” Logo may face objections once the logo is advertised in the journal and the ICMAI “iCMA” Logo is to be cleared of the opposition. Further details on the approval status of the logos and legal proceedings are eagerly awaited.
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