13 January 2026·PIB

Trade Marks Agent Examination 2026 Conducted with Participation of Over 800 Candidates

In this note

1. At a Glance

Trade Marks Agent Examination (TAE) is a statutory qualifying exam conducted by CGPDTM under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to register persons as Trade Marks Agents entitled to practice before the Trade Marks Registry [1].
Held annually alongside the Patent Agent Examination (PAE); both are core IPR-profession gatekeeping exams in India's intellectual-property administration architecture [1].
Relevant to UPSC under GS-III (IPR, economy, S&T) and GS-II (statutory bodies, regulation).

TAE 2026 conducted on 10 January 2026 — 819 candidates registered; 388 appeared in Paper I, 362 in Paper II [1].
PAE 2026 conducted on 11 January 2026 — 5,535 registered; 2,402 in Paper I, 2,315 in Paper II [1].
Held across 13 centres including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur [1].

Statutory base: Trade Marks Act, 1999 (Central Act 47 of 1999), replacing the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 [2].
Procedural framework: Trade Marks Rules, 2017 (replacing 2002 Rules) — Rule 144 governs the Agent Examination [1][3].
Administered by Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM), under DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry [1].
India is signatory to Paris Convention, TRIPS (1995), Madrid Protocol (acceded 2013) — TM agent profession is the operational layer of these obligations.

Conducting body: Office of CGPDTM, headquartered at Mumbai [1].
Parent ministry: Ministry of Commerce & Industry → DPIIT [1].
Enabling law: Trade Marks Act, 1999; Trade Marks Rules, 2017 — Rule 144 [1].
Paper structure: Paper I (written — substantive & procedural law) and Paper II (written — drafting); followed by viva-voce per Rule 144 [1].
Eligibility (Sec. 154 of TM Act, 1999): Indian citizen, age ≥ 21, graduate of a recognized university, must pass the qualifying exam (or be an advocate/CS with prescribed conditions).
Parallel exam: Patent Agent Examination under Section 126 of the Patents Act, 1970 and Rule 110 of the Patents Rules, 2003 [1].
2026 cycle volume: TAE 819 registered; PAE 5,535 registered [1].

Legal / Constitutional:
Trade Marks is a Union List subject (Entry 49 — "patents, inventions and designs; copyright; trademarks and merchandise marks") [2].
Agent registration is the statutory mechanism preserving professional standards in TM filing.
Economic:
India ranked among top-5 globally in trademark filings (WIPO); a growing agent cadre is essential to absorb filing volume.
IPR infrastructure is a Ease of Doing Business indicator; agent supply alleviates pendency.
Administrative:
CGPDTM operates from Mumbai with branch offices in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad [1].
13-centre exam footprint signals decentralised access for aspirants [1].
Scientific / Technological:
Linked to National IPR Policy 2016 — pillar on human capital development and professional cadres.
PAE feeds the technical-IPR workforce critical for India's R&D commercialisation.

10 Jan 2026 — TAE 2026 conducted [1].
11 Jan 2026 — PAE 2026 conducted [1].
2025 — CGPDTM released Revised Guidelines for Examination of Computer Related Inventions (CRIs), 2025 [4].
Ongoing reduction in trademark examination backlog under DPIIT modernisation drive.

TAE conducted under Rule 144, Trade Marks Rules, 2017 [1].
PAE conducted under Rule 110, Patents Rules, 2003 (parent: Patents Act, 1970, Sec. 126) [1].
Conducting authority: CGPDTM, not the Ministry directly [1].
CGPDTM functions under DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry [1].
TAE 2026 date: 10 January 2026; PAE 2026 date: 11 January 2026 [1].
TAE 2026 registrations: 819; PAE 2026 registrations: 5,535 [1].
TM Act, 1999 replaced the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958.
Trademarks are governed via Entry 49 of the Union List.
CGPDTM headquartered at Mumbai.
India acceded to the Madrid Protocol in 2013.
Statutory eligibility for TM Agent is under Section 154 of the TM Act, 1999.
National IPR Policy was adopted in 2016.

GS-III — "Intellectual Property Rights" and "Effects of liberalization on the economy".
GS-II — "Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies".
Possible stems: 1. "Examine the role of the Office of CGPDTM in operationalising India's IPR regime. How do qualifying examinations strengthen the profession?" 2. "Despite a robust legal framework, India's trademark and patent ecosystem suffers from human-capital constraints. Discuss." 3. "Evaluate the progress under the National IPR Policy, 2016, with reference to professional cadre development."

National IPR Policy 2016 — umbrella framework for India's IP architecture.
Patents Act, 1970 — sister statute administered by same office.
Madrid Protocol & TRIPS Agreement — international anchoring of TM law.
CGPDTM & DPIIT — institutional architecture.
Geographical Indications (GI) Act, 1999 — parallel sui generis IPR regime.
Copyright Act, 1957 — comparative IP statute (administered by DPIIT post-2016).
WIPO — global IP body; India is a member.
Designs Act, 2000 — third pillar under CGPDTM.

TAE is conducted by CGPDTM, NOT by UPSC or by the Ministry directly [1].
CGPDTM is under Ministry of Commerce & Industry (DPIIT), NOT Ministry of Law & Justice.
Rule confusion: TAE → Rule 144 of TM Rules 2017; PAE → Rule 110 of Patents Rules 2003. Do not interchange.
TM Act is 1999 (not 1958, which was the predecessor).
Copyrights are under DPIIT only since 2016 (earlier under HRD/Education) — do not assume CGPDTM administers copyrights; CGPDTM handles patents, designs, trademarks, GI.