Under what circumstances a trade mark can be removed, from the register of Trade Mark under the Trade Mark Act, 1999? (Section 47 of the Trade Mark Act, 1999.)

Section 47 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 deals with removal of a trade mark from the register on the ground of non-use and provides that a trade mark which is not used within five years of its registration, becomes liable for removal either completely or in respect of those goods or services for which the mark has not been used. The five years period starts from the date on which the trade mark is actually entered on the register. Further, the trade mark was registered without any bona fide intention on the part of the applicant for registration that it should be used in relation to those goods or services by him or, in a case to which the provisions of section 46 apply, by the company concerned or the registered user, as the case may be, and that there has, in fact, been no bona fide use of the trade mark in relation to those goods or services by any proprietor thereof for the time being upto a date three months before the date of the application. However, Section 47(3) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 protects a mark from being removed from the register on ground of non-use if such non-use is shown to have been due to special circumstances in the trade which may include restriction imposed by any law or regulation on the use of trade mark in India and not to any intention to abandon or not to use the trade mark in relation to the goods or services to which the application relates.