Army guns for exclusivity, registers IPR for uniform

NEW DELHI: The 12-lakh strong Army has now registered an intellectual property right (IPR) over its new combat uniform with a ‘unique digital disruptive pattern’, which was first showcased in January this year, to prevent its unauthorised sale and misuse.
“The process for registration of the new camouflage pattern and design of the improved combat uniform to establish ownership of the Indian Army has been completed by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademark, Kolkata,” an officer said on Thursday. With the exclusive IPR resting solely with the Army, its manufacturing by any vendor who is not authorised to do so will be illegal and invite legal proceedings, he added.
Over the last several years, the defence ministry and Army have been repeatedly asking ministries and states to not allow their uniformed personnel to wear camouflage fatigues akin to the force.
“This unnecessarily leads to false alarms that the Army has been deployed for crowd control or other law and order duties. Moreover, security becomes a major issue if the combat uniform is freely available,” another officer said.
The fabric of the new uniform, which has a contemporary look and functional design, has been made lighter, stronger, breathable and easier to maintain. “The uniform’s uniqueness is evident with the inclusion of gender specific modifications for women’s combat uniform,” he added.
As part of the process to introduce the new pattern uniform, 50,000 sets have already been procured through the Canteen Stores Department and delivered to 15 depots across the country. “The bulk procurement of 11. 7 lakh sets for JCOs (junior commissioned officers) and other ranks as part of their individual kits is likely to commence from August 2023,” he said.