Star India Pvt. Ltd. (Disney) filed a suit for copyright infringement seeking permanent injunction and damages, for infringement of copyrights in its upcoming film ‘Brahmastra Part One: Shiva’ against 7Movierulz.tc and other rogue websites (infringers), which were primarily and substantially engaged in illegal streaming, hosting, etc.

Cipla Limited vs. Novartis AG & ANR 9 March, 2017 A case for permanent injunction was filed in the High Court of Delhi by Novartis AG, a Swiss company against Cipla Limited, an Indian Company, for infringement of their Indian patent no. 222346. The product, Onbrez, comprising INDACATEROL claimed in the patent, was manufactured by the plaintiff in Switzerland and imported into India according to an agreement, dated 22.03.2012, with Lupin Laboratories.

Chanel Limited is a French luxury brand created by Coco Chanel in 1910. In 100 plus years Chanel has created a goodwill for itself in ready-to-wear clothes, luxury goods and accessories for men and women. Chanel recently sought to register the shape of its bottle “No. 5” fragrance as a registered trademark in the US.

Traditionally, having a TV would mean that you would have a cable or a satellite connection. However, with the inception of the internet and today, the high speed internet, things have changed.

Under Indian patent law, one patent application must pertain to one invention only; in other words, there must be unity of invention. Section 10(5) of the Indian Patents Act states that: “The claim or claims of a complete specification shall relate to a single invention, or to a group of inventions linked so as to form a single inventive concept, shall be clear and succinct and shall be fairly based on the matter disclosed in the specification.”

A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a new product or a process that involves an inventive step and is capable of industrial application. Therefore, to obtain a patent, the subject matter of an invention must satisfy the patentability criteria which states that the subject matter must be novel, must involve an inventive step (technical advancement or contribution), and must be capable of industrial application.

When a patentable idea is considered inventive? What standards are used to evaluate inventiveness? What are the best practices to overcome inventive step objection? These are the fundamental inquiries for those pursuing a patent application.

Allahabad Law Agency (ALA) is a publishing house familiar within the legal fraternity, and the publisher of the most sought after publication on the Law of Torts in India. ALA acquired the copyright rights for publishing and selling 'Law of Torts' from the original owner of the copyright (late) Dr. RK Bangia through a deed of assignment executed in August 1968.

Section 48(a) and 48(b) of The Indian Patents Act 1970 confers exclusive rights to a patentee to the patented product or process respectively. The act prevents third parties from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing a patented product in India, unless consented by the patentee. It also prevents third parties from using a patented process or offering for sale, selling, or importing, the product obtained directly by the patented process, unless consented by the patentee.

Founded in the year 1984, Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd. (Sona) is involved in the business of manufacturing a range of products consisting of electric motors, controllers, and starters for use in all passengers and commercial vehicles, including Electric Vehicles (EV) having its operations in India, the USA, Mexico, China and Hong Kong. Sona is the registered proprietor of the mark “SONA” in India as well as abroad.

In a significant ruling, Patil Automation Private Limited and Ors. VS. Rakheja Engineers Private Limited, SLP (C) No. 14697 of 2021, dated August 17, 2022, a division bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India declared that Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act 2015, which mandates pre- institution mediation, is mandatory and suits which are filed violating the mandate of Section 12A must be rejected under Order VII Rule 11. Persons authorized by the Central Government can act as Mediators.

Mr. Akash Aggarwal, operating under the mark/ name ‘V Tradition,’ a female clothing brand present on various e-commerce platforms, including Flipkart. Mr. Aggarwal was aggrieved by the fact that Flipkart has allowed and is allowing various unrelated third-party sellers to latch on to his popular products sold under his brand ‘V Tradition,’ through a feature on Flipkart which enables these third-party sellers to become ‘more sellers’ of popular best-selling goods.

Section 9 of the Indian Patents Act 1970 broadly deals with patent applications accompanied by provisional and complete specifications. Sub section (i) states that once a patent application accompanied by a provisional specification is filed at the Indian Patent Office, it is mandatory to file the complete specification within a period of 12 months from the filing date of the application. If the complete specification is not filed within this period of 12 months the original application filed will be treated as abandoned and the invention will lose priority. This filing process is unlike the f

‘THEOBROMA FOODS PVT. LTD.’ (‘Theobroma’- which means the ‘Food for the Gods’ as well as the name of a flowering plant), Mumbai has become a household name in respect of bakery related products, patisseries, confectionery etc. having total of 81 retail outlets/cafés across several locations like Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Noida, Bengaluru, amongst others has multiple trademark registrations in respect of the mark ‘THEOBROMA’ and its variants.

Selection of a proper brand name in the initial stages of the life cycle of a product plays a vital role in the success or failure of a product. It is advisable, to conduct a search in appropriate trademark classes (depending on the products or services provided) through the online records of the Trademarks Registry to determine whether a mark is likely to conflict with any pending or registered mark(s) in respect of the same or similar goods/services.

The Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is the registered proprietor of the mark ‘KHADI’, several Khadi-formative marks and logos (Hindi and English) along with the ‘Charkha Logos’ in several trademark classes in India as well as other jurisdictions such as the UK, China, Australia, USA, New Zealand, Bhutan, Mexico, etc.

Cadbury India Ltd., now known as Mondelez India Foods Pvt. Ltd. (Cadbury) is the registered proprietor of the mark ‘GEMS’ for button chocolate covered with colourful candy shells. Cadbury also has copyright registrations in respect of a character known as ‘GEMS BOND’ which has been used Cadbury for promoting ‘GEMS’.

Hungary based company M/s. Hell Energy Magyarorszag Kft. (Hell) is engaged in the manufacture and sale of non-alcoholic beverages and energy drinks. Hell is the registered proprietor of the trademark “HELL” which was adopted in 2006 bearing international registration no. 933068 in Class 32 for ‘non-alcoholic beverages and energy drinks’ in countries like Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Great Britain, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Sweden, Serbia, Turkey and Uzbekistan. The mark ‘HELL’ was registered in India in Class 32 since 2017 in respect of energy drinks.

Shubham: Sir, what is a Trademark Caution Notice? Dr. Dewan: A trademark caution Notice is a Notice generally inserted by a trademark owner in Newspapers or magazines to inform the general public that its mark is registered and use by any other person of the mark without its authorisation will amount to infringement and will result in infringer becoming liable to civil as well as criminal action.

We all have used Bluetooth Technology, and its logo is also quite well known. However, do you know the origin of the word Bluetooth, and the reason why its logo looks how its looks? The Bluetooth technology was originally developed by Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (commonly known as Ericsson) and is presently used in many different products developed by several manufacturers.

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) introduced Third Party Observations Service (TPOS) (under section 801(a), 804(b)) on April 13, 2017. This service allows third parties to make observations through the ePCT system (i.e., by accessing ePCT designated offices (DO) function) by citing prior art(s) which they believe to be relevant to the question of whether the invention claimed in the international application is novel and/or involves an inventive step.

In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt described the R&D wing of the Ministry of Defence, Defence Research Development Organisation’s (DRDO) efforts for enhancing self-reliance in the defence sector to create a “Made in India” defence eco-system. He stated that, DRDO had signed 1,464 ‘Transfer of Technology’ (ToT) agreements with Indian firms to supply key components to India’s defence setup till date.

On July 21, 2022, NITI Aayog, Government of India released the 3rd edition of India Innovation Index 2021. The India Innovation Index, jointly prepared by Institute for Competitiveness and NITI Aayog, is a thorough instrument for assessing and developing the nation's innovation ecosystem. To foster healthy competition among them, it rates the States and Union Territories (UT) based on how well they perform in terms of innovation.

What are Disclaimers in a patent application? Under the Indian Patents Act, one of the permissible ways of entering the amendment is to incorporate ‘Disclaimers’. Disclaimers are usually defined for removal of doubts with respect to a particular aspect/feature of the claimed subject matter of a patent application. Disclaimers can be used a) in claims b) in written description of the specification, mostly during the prosecution or post-grant stage.

Indian e-commerce company, Snapdeal Private Limited (Snapdeal) approached the Delhi High Court seeking permanent injunction restraining 32 Domain Name Registrars (DNRs) for infringement of trademarks, passing off, unfair trade practices, damages, rendition of accounts and other reliefs for registering several domain names containing its registered trademark ‘SNAPDEAL’.

On April 27, 2022, The Office of the United States Trade representatives (USTR) released its Special 301 Report, an annual review which identifies trade barriers to American companies, with respect to the IP laws and legislations of other countries.

The journey of the human being as a species, began about 2.4 – 1.4 million years ago when Homo habilis, commonly known as “Handy Man” started roaming on earth, presumably in southern and eastern Africa, although no definitive conclusion has arrived regarding the ontogeny and phylogeny of the species. The evolution of the human species flourished when several human species roamed at a particular geological time frame. The Smithsonian National Museum lists at least 21 human species, although the said list is not complete as even a common species like Denisovans are missing from the list.

The world is atwitter about NFTs! Partially because they are not aware about what it is and why its buzzing the internet world. Let us help you demist!

Meta Platforms Inc. (Meta) has several registrations for its mark “Facebook” and other Facebook-formative marks including , and the like.

On July 9, 2022, The Government of India launched a “Jute Mark India logo”, which will act as the certification of authenticity for jute products manufactured in India and an assurance regarding origin and quality for jute and jute products. It is an initiative to protect and promote Indian jute products. This is aimed to strengthen the domestic market as well as Export of Jute products and revamping the Indian Jute Industry. It was implemented during the on-going Jute promotion and development scheme 2022- 2026. The Union government has allocated INR 485.58 for the scheme.

Recently, on July 05, 2022, a Single Judge Bench consisting of Hon’ble Justice Pratibha M. Singh delivered a milestone judgment relating to the amendment of patent specifications, holding that with respect to claims, an invention may be amended “so long as the invention is comprehended within the matter disclosed”.

Recently, the Hon’ble Delhi High Court directed the creation of 42 new Commercial Courts in the national capital within six months, to expedite the disposal of commercial disputes. The Court issued the direction upon hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which stated that the 42 new commercial courts which were notified and/ or sanctioned by the Delhi Government on April 13, 2021, were not setup.

Earlier we had written an article wherein the English songwriter-singer, Ed Sheeran had won a copyright infringement case in the United Kingdom's High Court on April 6, 2022, over his 2017 song “Shape of You”. Sami Chokri, a.k.a. Sami Switch (Chokri), and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue, had sued the 31-year-old singer and his co-writers and accused them of plagiarising a phrase from the British grime track "Oh Why" when writing the worldwide smash.

SM MOTORENTEILE GMBH (hereinafter SMM) is engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling metal equipments for automobiles. SMM is the registered proprietor of the marks “SM” & “ “(SM Logo). SMM approached the Delhi High Court and filed a suit for trademark infringement, passing off as well as unfair trade competition against MAHARASHTRA MOTORS (MM) and certain retail shop owners for were selling cheap imitations of the SMM’s products under SMM’s registered marks.

Culver Max Entertainment Private Limited (‘Culver Max’) doing business as Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd., is an Indian media conglomerate owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. Culver Max manages and operates 26 television channels, the streaming media platform SonyLIV, as well as the television studio “Studio NEXT” and film studio Sony Pictures International Productions. The network forayed into the Indian sports TV market in 2002 after acquiring the license rights for International Cricket Council (ICC) matches from 2003 to 2007, which were broadcast on SET and Sony MAX.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) was established in July 2020 under The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, to promote, protect, and enforce the rights of consumers as a class, and to investigate, prosecute, and punish violators issued guidelines on Monday July 4, 2022 with regards to the service charge being levied by hotels and restaurants to curb unfair trade practices, and protect the interest of consumers.

Campus Activewear Limited (Campus) filed two suits in the Delhi High Court against Asian Footwears Private Limited (Asian). Campus also made Amazon Seller Services Private Limited and M/s Flipkart Internet Private Limited which are e-commerce platforms party to the suits.

Recently, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, USA conducted an experimental therapy trial using Dostarlimab as a result of which all the cancer patients in the trial emerged cancer-free for the first time in history. According to a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, immune checkpoint inhibitors may be particularly helpful in treating persons with a specific type of rectal cancer. Andrea Cercek, MD, Head of the Colorectal Cancer Section and Co-Director of the Center for Young-Onset Colorectal and Gastrointestinal Cancers at Memorial Sloan Ketterin

Under the Law on Patents in force in Cambodia, pharmaceutical products now stand excluded from patent protection [Article 4(iv) and Article 136 of the amended Law on Patents (Royal Kram Nº NS/RKM/1117/016)].

DHI (Direct Hair Implantation) is a brand name conceived and adopted by DHI Global Medical Group (‘DHI Global’) for a unique hair transplantation method invented and developed by its founder Dr. Konstantinos P. Giotis.

The invention of plastics was considered a boon due to its potential to stop exploitation of plants worldwide, however, soon turned to be a curse due to enormous amount of generated non-biodegradable wastes, which may last as long as 4,000 years. As per a 2021 report published in prakiti.in, nearly 8,300 million tonnes of virgin plastics are produced globally as of 2017, of which merely about 9% could be recycled, about 12% of it incinerated, leaving a whopping 79% to the natural environment including but not limited to landfills, scattered in habitat conditions, polluting the depth of ocean a

Katherine Von Drachenberg, (Von D) is a tattoo artist who rose to fame as a celebrity tattoo artist through appearances on the reality television series Miami Ink and LA Ink. In March 2017, Von D published two Instagram posts of a tattoo based photograph of jazz legend Miles Davis, holding a finger to his lips for a lighting technician and her friend named Blake Farmer, (who had worked with Von D on a film project.) Von D used the photograph, which was provided by Farmer, for reference.

M/s. Laborate Pharmaceuticals India Ltd. (Laborate) filed a suit for trademark & copyright infringement as well as passing off in relation to its registered trademark “LABDIC RELIEF” against Alkem Laboratories Ltd. (Alkem) The Trial Court granted an ex-parte ad interim injunction was passed against Alkem and restrained it from using the mark “ALDIGESIC PAIN RELIEF” as well as from using trade dress/ product packaging and the blister packaging or any other deceptively similar trademark to “LABDIC RELIEF”.

Christian Louboutin (Louboutin), a Paris-based luxury shoemaker, known for his high-end shoes with bright, lacquered red bottom outsole first made the collection available to the public in 1992. Soon after the launch of these handcrafted collections, they became a preferred choice by the Hollywood actresses and Paris’ fashion establishment. In 2008, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted a trademark registration upon an application filed by Louboutin for the “Red Sole Mark” in a significant font which was printed on the soles of all the shoes.

The notion of prior use comes into play when the invention underlying a patent application is already in use before filing of the patent application, the right(s) of which although having a common ground, yet are determined differentially across the jurisdictions owing to the territorial nature of patents. One factor that is most important in determining something “prior”, is the filing date of the patent application, especially in a jurisdiction adhering to the “first to file” principle. For a country following the “first to invent” principle, the matter is even tougher to determi

Ralph Lauren Corporation (“Polo”) is a global leader in the design, marketing, and distribution of premium lifestyle products, including apparel, accessories, home, fragrances, and hospitality. Polo is the registered proprietor of the mark ‘POLO SPORT’ since 1967, which is registered in India and also declared a ‘Well-known’ trademark in 2011. Polo also owns the device mark which consists of a horse with a person riding it while flinging his club to hit a ball in the sport of polo.

The Delhi High Court has restrained Panasonic Life Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. (Panasonic) from infringing the registered designs of Havells India Limited (Havells).

Rosabagh is a Delhi-based luxury design house engaged in manufacturing and selling with all kinds of furniture and artifacts, fabrics, carpets, wallpapers, tiles, wooden floorings and lights, including crafting custom-made furniture, and also provide consultancy services to the customers looking to build their ‘dream homes’. It was established in 2018 by Abhishek and Barkha Kathuria.

The famous Khola Chilli of Goa recently got their Geographical Indication (GI) tag from the Geographical Indication Registry. Khola Chilli is grown on the on the hills of Khola village in Canacona taluka region of Goa.

The Hon’ble Delhi High Court, in the matter of Vishal Pipes Limited v. Bhavya Pipe Industry, was dealing with an appeal challenging the order dated 28th January 2022 passed by the ld. Additional District Judge (ld. ADJ), New Delhi in the suit wherein a permanent injunction was sought by Vishal Pipes Limited against Bhavya Pipe Industry for infringing its registered mark 'VPL INDIA' and copyright as well as seeking reliefs for passing off, delivery up, rendition of accounts, etc. The grievance of Vishal Pipes Limited was that the ld. ADJ had refused to grant an ex parte order of injunction an

A Geographical Indication (GI) tag is a sign/mark allotted to an artefact or a commodity that originates in a particular region and has its own unique identity. A GI right empowers the bearer to restrict the indication from being used by any other person whose quality does not meet the required criteria. In India, Geographical Indication tags are governed under Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.

The Delhi High Court recently restrained Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Limited from infringing the trademark "PEBBLE" on a suit filed by V Guard Industries Ltd. (V Guard).

SPP Pumps Limited (SPP Pumps Ltd.) is an UK based Company engaged in the manufacturing of centrifugal pumps and engineered pumping solutions from the last 140 years of experience. It is the owner and the registered proprietor of the mark ‘SPP PUMPS’, which was adopted in the year, 1961 and is an acronym of ‘Sigmund Pulsometer Pumps’. The said mark is a coined word/abbreviation. It has registration for the mark ‘SPP PUMPS’ in class 9 in India since 2021, SPP Pumps Ltd. have several trademark applications for the said mark in classes 37 and 7 which are pending registration.

Hungary based company M/s. Hell Energy Magyarorszag Kft. (Hell) is engaged in the manufacture and sale of non-alcoholic beverages and energy drinks. Hell is the registered proprietor of the trademark “HELL” which was adopted in 2006 bearing international registration no. 933068 in Class 32 for ‘non-alcoholic beverages and energy drinks’ in countries like Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Great Britain, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Sweden, Serbia, Turkey and Uzbekistan. The mark ‘HELL’ was registered in India in Class 32 since 2017 in respect of energy drinks.

Burger King established in the year 1957, is an American multinational chain of hamburger fast food giant. Burger King owns all the rights extensively in relation to the use of the mark “BURGER KING” in conjunction with its distinctive logo which has evolved over the years. Burger King also owns 1040 domain names registered in its name.

Karim Hotel Pvt Ltd (Karim), famously located at Jama Masjid, New Delhi, has multiple branches Pan-India, it coined and adopted the trademark KARIM in the year 1913. The mark KARIM is an abbreviation of the name of its original founder, Haji Karimuddin. Karim has registered the mark KARIM in Classes 16, 29, 30, 42, 43.

Colorbar Cosmetics Private Limited (Colorbar) is engaged in manufacturing and selling of cosmetic products. Colorbar is the owner of the mark ‘VELVET MATTE’ which was registered and adopted the mark ‘VELVET MATTE’ for their line of cosmetics being, inter alia, lipstick, lip gloss, liquid pre-makeup base, lip color, lip liner since2009 as a sub-brand/mark under the umbrella brand/house mark ‘COLORBAR’. Various variants of the mark have also been used by Colorbar.

Sholay (1975) directed by Ramesh Sippy, is perhaps the most reviewed film in the history of Hindi mainstream cinema and a film that transcends all generations. The creative and commercial rights of the iconic film vest with Sholay Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd. and Sippy Films Pvt. Ltd.

The Order of the Delhi High Court in the case of “NEW BALANCE ATHLETICS INC., VS. ASHOK KUMAR & ORS.” throws light upon the increasing challenges that the IP owners/proprietors have been facing with the advancement of technology in the era of the internet.

Amazon Seller Services Private Limited (Amazon) operates and manages the India online marketplace through www.amazon.in where several third-party sellers and numerous buyers get a chance to interact and conduct business. Amazon owns several marks under various classes one of which is ‘AMAZON’. Amazon is also the owner of copyright in various logos of ‘AMAZON’ under the Copyright Act, 1957.

US based companies National Insurance and Indemnity Corporation & Greyhound Lines, Inc. (National & Greyhound) provide premium brand of public transport bus services across United States, Canada, and Mexico between various cities including several major cities in the USA.

Our lives would have been better if diseases likely to occur in the future can be anticipated and taken care of before the moment slips out of our hands. This far-fetched scenario is now possible with the completion of the sequencing of the human genome. A single gene or a set of genes may appear to predispose a degenerative disease, alter sensitivity to environmental pollutants and toxins, and even an infectious disease. Understanding an individual's genetic make-up may help avoid situations that are likely to cause disease leading to preventive medical treatment. Early disease of identificat

Incorporated in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas in 2002, Kerzner International Limited (Kerzner) is one of the world’s renowned service provider engaged in management, development and operation of destination resorts, properties, luxury resort hotels, etc. Kerzner manages more than 15 hotels in approximately 10 countries under the mark ‘ATLANTIS’ which was adopted in 1994. In India, Kerzner owns several registrations for the mark ‘ATLANTIS’ under Classes 35, 36, 39, 41, 42 and 43.

In the matter of Concrete Additives and Chemicals Pvt. Ltd v. S N Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd, the Bombay High Court dealt with an application filed under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the Act) whereby Concrete Additives and Chemicals Pvt. Ltd (Concrete) had prayed for appointment of an arbitral tribunal to adjudicate the dispute which had arisen under the purchase orders that were issued by S N Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd (SN).

While it’s unquestionable that an owner of a registered trademark can defend his rights in the same by the virtue of the relevant provisions of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, can these rights still be enforced in cases where the application has been actively opposed by third parties? The recent order by Delhi High Court in United Biotech Pvt. Ltd. v. Mr. Gaurav Aggarwal CS (COMM) 289/2022 seems to have cleared some air on this.

We get invoices, bills, cash memos, and receipts every now and then, however, not all of those are proper /legal ones. Therefore while receiving an invoice/bills/cash memos/receipts from a merchant for any goods bought or services availed we need to ensure that the invoice contains all the details necessary.

Have you heard about this, kamikaze branding strategy as the name suggests is a strategy where a brand launches a brand that is intended to fail and also damage the competitors in the market.

Just Dial (JD)is engaged in providing directory services and listing services in India since 1996 , also known as search engine along with other services that includes Searching Service, Search Plus Services, JD Mart, JD Pay, JD Omni, etc. JD also has voice services available on ‘8888888888’ which is 24 x 7 accessible with multilingual support and domain name www.justdial.com, on which its large number of clients list their products and services for expanding their reach.

DHL International GmbH (DHL) is a German logistics company. DHL was set up in San Francisco in the year 1969 and is engaged in offering various services including parcel and international express service, freight transport, and supply chain management services, as well as e-commerce logistics solutions. In 2001, DHL incorporated DHL Worldwide Express Pvt. Ltd. (later known as DHL Express (India) Pvt. Ltd.)

Saga Life Sciences Limited (Saga) sold a pharmaceutical paracetamol preparation ULTRAMOL after obtaining approval of Food and Drug Controller Authority (FDCA), Gujarat on 28th November 1991. The product was listed on e-commerce platforms as well as on the website of the company. Saga applied for the trademark “ULTRAMOL 650” in 2007 and claimed a prior use since 1992. The application was abandoned because of some misunderstanding with the Trademark Agent and subsequently, Saga re-applied for registration of the trademark “ULTRAMOL” on 16th October 2019 in class 5 which was opposed by Ar

Legal fees cover the services provided by lawyers to their clients, which may be in form of advice, research, resources, and time. Initial fees may be charged for advice and case reviews, while ongoing matters have retainer fees that cover a range of services on a periodic basis. Legal fees are not standardized, and vary from firms to individuals. They are determined by the reputation of a law firm, the education level and experience of the attorney dealing with the case, the difficulty and novelty of the matter, overhead expenses as well as other aspects of the service.

Moonshine Technology Pvt. Ltd., (‘Baazi group’) is engaged in the Indian Gaming Industry. Baazi group owns several registered trademarks such as BAAZI, BAAZI GAMES, POKER BAAZI, RUMMYBAAZI, BALLEBAAZI, etc..

Victoria Foods Private Limited (Victoria) is engaged in the manufacture and sale of agro-based food products like wheat based products, pulses, pasta etc. under its brand “Rajdhani”. Victoria adopted the mark 'RAJDHANI' in 1966 and has multiple trademark registrations for the same in classes 29, 20, 31, and 32 in India as well as aborad.

Delhi High Court has granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction against M/s Parulben Navnath Chothani, trading as Shiv Enterprise (Defendant No. 1), while dealing with a plea by Sirona Hygiene Pvt. Ltd. against the sale of its “look-alike” and counterfeit products on online e-commerce platforms.

Biocon India Limited (Biocon) is a company established in 1978 engaged in the field of biotechnology. Biocon owns various process patents and technologies in its sphere of activity in India as well as abroad. In the year 1999, Biocon applied for the registration of word mark ‘BIOCON’ under class 1, 3, 5 and 29. This was further updated to classes 1,3,5,10,16 and 29 in 2003. Biocon has spent enormous amounts of money towards popularizing its mark ‘BIOCON’ and is also represented on the worldwide web. The reputation and goodwill enjoyed by Biocon is evident from the fact that its turnove

Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Chugai) is a drug manufacturer operating in Japan. The company is headquartered in Tokyo. Historically stating, in the year – 1925, Juzo Ueno founded ‘Chugai Shinyaku Co. Ltd.’ and started importing and selling medicines. In 1927 the company started of the first own production. Following which, in the year 1943 name of the company was changed to Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. based in Tokyo.

MakeMyTrip (India) Pvt. Ltd. (MMT) registered the domain name www.makemytrip.com, back in May 2000. MMT is the registered owner of the trademark ‘MakeMyTrip’ in various classes 9, 35, 39 & 43 for the last several years and is using the same since June 2000. MMT also has registration for the trademarks ‘MakeMy’, ‘MyTrip’, ‘MMT’ etc., and the logos thereof in various variants.

Since 1873, Levi Strauss & Co. (Levi) has been a pioneer in the manufacturing of denim jeans. Levi were granted a patent in the US for an "Improvement in Pocket-Opening Fastenings" back in 1873, namely for riveted pockets, and making work pants durable and long lasting for working men. Levi adopted a distinctive stitching design, known as ‘Arcuate Stitching Design’ and used it on all its textiles including denim jeans.

A successful trademark can be a game changer for any business. Generally, Trademarks make it easier for the customers to identify a company’s goods and services. A good Trademark not only distinguishes a product/service from other products/services in the market, but is also an effective medium of communication regarding its proprietor, its reputation and the goods/services. This article addresses the common mistakes committed, as well as the problems faced while adopting a trademark.

Living Media India Limited (‘Living Media’) is engaged in the business of news publication and printing of various magazines including India Today and Business Today. Living Media in association with India Today and Business Today run popular television news channels including ‘AAJ TAK’.

On good days, even the wrong paths may lead one to the right destination, the recent case of Mankind Pharma Limited V. Tata Medical and Diagnostics Limited CS (COMM) 192/2022 is a classic example of the same.

Launched in 2008, JA Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (JA) is a media production company owned by actor John Abraham which has produced films like, ‘Vicky Donor’, ‘Madras Café’, ‘Parmanu’, and ‘Batla House’.

Macleods Pharmaceuticals Limited (Macleods) is engaged in the manufacture of a broad range of pharmaceutical products across therapies in multiple dosage forms. It had adopted the mark ‘SETFRAC’ and ‘SETFRAC PLUS’ in the year 2013 which was duly registered w.e.f. July, 2013, in Class 5 in respect of medicinal, pharmaceutical and veterinary preparations.

The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) , established under the Food Safety Standards Authority of India Act is responsible for regulating food products in India and is governed by the guidelines issued under theact . To standardize the food regulations the government has introduced the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011. These regulations include provisions for dairy products, oils, fruits and vegetables, grains, confectionery, ice cream products, seasonings, non-dairy products and fruit and vegetable-based beverages.

Ed Sheeran won a copyright infringement case in the United Kingdom's High Court on April 6, 2022 over his 2017 song “Shape of You” which topped charts worldwide and currently stands as the most streamed song on Spotify. Sami Chokri, a.k.a. Sami Switch (Chokri) and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue, had sued Sheeran and his co-writers, for plagiarism over alleged similarities between the two songs.

Living Media India Limited (‘Living Media’) filed a suit for seeking permanent injunction against Aabtak Channel.com (‘Aabtak’) and other parties for infringement of trade marks, copyright, passing off, dilution, rendition of accounts, damages, etc.

Star India Pvt. Ltd (Star) is an entertainment and Media Company in India engaged, inter alia, in the production of popular content broadcast on its STAR channels and is an exclusive licensee of media rights to various sporting events which are also broadcast on its Star channels such as TATA Indian Premier League 2022. Star is also a film production and distribution company.

Sporta Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (SPORTA) filed a suit for trademark infringement & passing off against Unfading OPC Private Limited (UNFADING) seeking permanent injunction restraining UNFADING from using the mark ‘SattaDream11’ or any deceptively similar variant thereof, as the trade mark, trade name, domain name or on social media, email addresses.

In what can be considered as a major development in the on-going battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, a patent has been granted for a homeopathic medicine which is effective against COVID-19 infection. Particularly, a patent has been granted to Dr. Rajesh Shah for a nosode composition which can be used for the prevention, alleviation and treatment of COVID-19 infection.

Subhankar Bhowmik had approached the Tripura High Court by way of a PIL, contending that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) and the Regulations framed thereunder, did not prescribe any class of creditors to which the term "decree holder" belonged and therefore, without such prescription in the IBC, the class of "decree holders" fell into the residual class of "other creditors", which was clearly arbitrary and therefore violative of Article 14.

Established in 2015, BoAt is an India-based company, that designs and markets earphone, headphones stereos and a variety of mobile phone accessories.

The Delhi High Court granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction in favor of Saga Music (‘Saga’) against Karma Entertainment Private Limited (‘Karma’) for copyright infringement in respect of Sound Recordings/Songs titled “Black Suit” and “Suit Lahore Da” assigned to Saga by Karma vide two separates but nearly identical Content Assignment Agreements.

Brands are constantly innovating to find new and unique methods to associate themselves with their goods to leave a lasting impact on customers. This may involve logos, product names, forms, colors, taglines & slogans. Brand taglines play a good role in impacting the customer’s mind because it is catchy and have words that help customers connect with a business's goods and services and the brand in general.

The MCA vide its Notification No. G.S.R. 279(E) dtd. 06th April, 2022 which came in force on the same date has notified Companies (Management and Administration) Amendment Rules, 2022 to amend the existing set of Rules.

Indian civilizations has been enlightening the world since time immemorial, and is one of the continuous civilizations where history is still alive, awake and its lessons are beyond the limitations drawn by time, space and causation, unlike anywhere else where history is only discovered buried underground or in mystically abandoned forms.

A Geographical Indication (GI) is a sign/mark applied to items that originate in a particular geographical region and feature characteristics or a reputation unique to that region. A geographical indicator right entitles the holder to prohibit the indication from being used by a third party whose product does not meet relevant requirements. In India, GI’s are covered by Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.

RADICO KHAITAN LIMITED (Radico) is involved in the manufacturing and selling of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in India. One of its products is branded as ‘MAGIC MOMENTS’. Radico adopted the word mark 'MAGIC MOMENTS' in the year 1997 and launched Gin and Vodka under this trademark in 2005 and 2006. Radico has been using the trademark since then. It has launched several variants which contain the suffix moments such as Remix Moments (2008), Verve Moments (2012), and Electra Moments (2015). SARAO DISTILLERY (OPC) PVT. LTD (Sarao) and GREENTECH BLENDERS AND DISTILLERS (Greentech) started u

Any patent offers a conditional monopoly for a limited period of time with a consideration in the form of disclosure. The disclosure must enable a “person skilled in the art” or “person having ordinary skill in the art” to arrive at the invention, however, sans said disclosure, it should never be possible for said person of to arrive at that particular invention. Therefore, the facets of the underlying invention of a patent application must be disclosed categorically in the specification to obtain a legal right not merely on the disclosure but actually on the substantial invention that

The requirement of disclosure in a patent specification exists across jurisdictions as the quid pro quo for against the monopoly in relation for a limited period of time. However, depending upon jurisdiction, the nature of disclosure requirement varies.

The term “Revocation” means Cancellation of the patent rights granted to the patentee. Under the (Indian) Patents Act, 1970 the validity of a patent can be challenged in any of the following ways:-

Recently, the brand “Thums Up” became a billion dollar brand. The historic journey of the brand, makes for interesting reading. Prior to 1973, the Indian market for aerated drinks was prominently ruled by Coke. In 1973, amendment to the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) capped foreign equity at 40%. All companies with more than 40% foreign equity had to obtain a fresh approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to continue their operations.

As per the Indian Trademarks Act, 1999, “Trademark is a mark capable of being represented graphically and distinguishes the goods and services of one person from those of others”. Owing to increasing businesses and an ever growing economy, the Trademark has attained significance as it fulfils the purpose of distinguishing one's brand from another. This distinction can be made in name, symbol, shape, color, device, and anything included in graphical representation.

A patent is a conditional monopoly awarded to an individual or a legal entity for a limited period of time to encourage research and development (R&D), innovation and invention, essential for the neo-knowledge and innovation driven economy. The monopoly for a limited period is granted to allow the patentee to secure the return on investment made for the research. All the patent applications are automatically published, generally at the expiry of 18 months from the date of filing, however, unlike most of the “original peer-reviewed papers”, the publication is available free of cost. In addi

India is a unique nation with a time-tested continuous civilization with abundant biological resources despite myriad disruptions in the form of natural calamities, foreign invasions and the like, resulting in creation of vast repositories of knowledge either in written form or verbal tradition or even in encrypted form, perpetuated through generations for all available domains.

Mankind Pharma Private Limited (hereinafter, ‘Mankind’), a pharmaceutical company came into existence in 1986 when it is adopted a logo In late 2021, Mankind came across an entity who was using the name, NISEKIND PHARMA PRIVATE LIMITED (hereinafter, ‘Nisekind’) and the mark . Initially, Mankind sent a cease-and-desist notice to Nisekind. Nisekind refused to comply. Mankind approached the Delhi High Court for an exparte ad- interim injunction against Nisekind. Mankind contended that Nisekind had dishonestly adopted the trademark with malicious intent. It furth

JK CEMENT LIMITED (JK) is an affiliate of the multidisciplinary industrial conglomerate JK Organisation which was founded over 100 years ago. It adopted the trademark “JK” and is the registered proprietor of the same since 1974 for various goods including cements, wall Putty, building materials and the like in India. JK’s labels/packaging with original colour combination constitutes distinctive trademarks of JK. Artistic works in their respective labels/packaging are duly protected under the Copyright Act, 1957.

Adobe, Inc (‘Adobe’) is a multinational company headquartered in San Jose, California which primarily deals in software for creation and publication of wide range of content, including graphics, photography, animation, etc. Adobe, approached the Delhi High Court seeking permanent injunction restraining to restrain Namase Patel, who had registered the domain names www.addobe.com and www.adobee.com (‘Infringing Domains’) for infringement, passing-off activities, dissemination of confidential information, unfair trade practices, transfer of domain names and rendition of accounts.

In Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited v. Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks and other connected matters, the Delhi High Court expressed concerns with respect to the discriminatory actions and arbitrariness of the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (‘CGPDTM’) and imposed costs on two officials of the CGPDTM for non-disclosure of facts and waste of judicial time.

Om Logistics Ltd (Om) approached the Delhi High Court seeking an ex parte injunction to restrain Mr. Mahendra Pandey (Mahendra) from providing services under the name ‘OM EXPRESS LOGISTICS’ or using the said name or any other deceptively similar name in any manner whatsoever.

The John Doe Order is one such remedy available for matters wherein the violators are unknown to the complainant. We have, in the recent past, discussed this remedy in detail in our previous article. A similar order was also passed as an interim relief by the Delhi High Court in the matter of Dabur India Limited ("Dabur") vs. Ashok Kumar & Ors. ("Defendants") on 3rd March 2022.

In a recent case at the Delhi High Court, the Court decided an important question with regard to the copyright in a cinematograph film “whether the expression “to make a copy of the film” means just to make a physical copy of the film by a process of duplication or does it refer to another work which substantially, fundamentally, essentially and materially resembles the original film.” Read along to find out...

HAVELLS INDIA LIMITED (Havells) has been using the mark ‘STANDARD’ for electrical products, including switch gears, fuse gears, cables, insulation wires, miniature circuit breakers since the year 1958.

Enlearn Education Private Limited (‘Enlearn’) is an unlisted private company that has set up a chain of schools across the Delhi NCR region dedicated to progressive and alternative forms of education. Even though Enlearn has been using the mark ‘HERITAGE’ for their schools since 1999, the earliest registration for its logo under no. 1276249 is of 2004. Enlearn is the registered proprietor of various derivatives of its mark registered under Classes 16 & 41 as listed below:

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co.KG a German pharmaceutical company having operations all over the world and its Indian subsidiary viz. Boehringer Ingelheim (India) Pvt.Ltd. (collectively referred to as “Boehringer”) filed a suit for patent infringement at the Madras High Court, stating that Tanmed Pharma India Private Limited

The Endless Summer is a 1966 movie that revolves around two surfers who travel around the world in search of the perfect wave for surfing and introduce the locals they meet along the way to the surfing culture. The title ‘The Endless Summer’ refers to the idea that a person can travel and surf round the year if he chases the summer seasons all over the world.

In the Economic Survey 2021-22 (a Press Conference by the Chief Economic Advisor, Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran), the Principal Economic Advisor Mr. Sanjeev Sanyal said that increasing the number of examiners helped in reducing the time for grant of patents in India. He further added that reducing the application process time can help in increasing the number of patents granted in India. It would help the economy in a big way.

The Khadi & Village Industries Commission (‘Commission’) Commission is a statutory body, officially established under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act, 1956. It is an apex organization set up under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises seeks to promote and develop the khadi and village industries in the rural regions of India while collaborating with the agencies engaged in rural development. The Commission owns various trademarks and device marks bearing the word ‘KHADI’ in both Hindi and English languages. Along with being a registered proprietor of ‘KH

Bvlgari SPA (Bulgari) and Notandas Gems Pvt. Ltd. (Notandas) both are engaged in the business of manufacturing high-end jewellery. Bulgari is the owner of the following trademarks –

International automotive and transport vehicle group Aktiebolaget Volvo (Volvo) adopted the trademark/name VOLVO in 1915. Volvo Group is engaged in manufacturing and distributor of heavy commercial vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, premium range of cars that includes sedans, wagons, sports wagons, cross country cars, and SUVs under the trademark/name ‘VOLVO’.

Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as ‘Sony’) has approached Bombay High Court in a suit seeking permanent injunction Illiyaraaja’s Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as ‘IMMP’) for infringement of its Copyright in Sound Recordings.

Late Sh. Kundan Lal Gujral, the inventor of Murgh Makhani, tandoori chicken, and Dal Makhani opened a restaurant named ‘MOTI MAHAL' in Peshawar in the year 1920 and subsequently, in 1947 in Delhi. He applied for registration of the mark “MOTI MAHAL” in August 1992 claiming prior use since 1947. He expired in December 1997 leaving behind his two grandsons (Mr. Ashim Gujral & his brother) and his daughter in law (mother of Mr. Ashim Gujral) as his son Mr. Nand Lal Gujral predeceased him, hereinafter jointly referred to as the ‘plaintiffs’, as his only Class I legal heirs.

Hermes is a French luxury design house, widely recognized as a luxury fashion brand and source indicator of Hermes International. Hermes specializes in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewellery, watches and ready-to-wear.

For the reasons explained by the Delhi High Court in the case of Pernod Ricard India Private Limited v. Frost Falcon Distilleries Limited, injunction may be granted against passing off of goods or services despite of an infringement of a registered trademark not having established.

Tilak Raj Bhatia trading as AJANTA STEEL PRODUCT [Ajanta Steel] has been using the trade mark since 1964. Thereafter Ajanta Steel filed an application and obtained registration for its device mark in the year 2001.

The adjective Red, for a Beetroot is redundant. Today, when synthetic foods dominate our diet, can we say the same about the use of the adjective Organic for Foods? Isn’t all food, atleast that it raw form (vegetables, fruits, eggs, meat, etc.) supposed to be organic?

Airtec Electrovision Pvt. Ltd (“Airtec”) is engaged in the business of manufacturing, promotion and distribution of E-LED television sets across India under the name and style of “EAIRTEC”. In June 2021, it came to the knowledge of Airtec that Nipon Electronics (“Nipon”) was using the mark “AIRNET” in respect of television sets. Airtec filed a commercial suit for recovery claiming damages worth Rs.5 lacs and a permanent injunction against Nipon in the District Court of Delhi.

The High Court of Delhi on 24.02.2022 in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 7 of the Delhi High Court Act, 1966, Section 129 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, powers conferred under the various Intellectual Property statutes as amended by the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021(“TRA 2021”) issued the specific Rules for the matters to be listed before Intellectual Property Division along with practice and procedure arising out of IPR and related statutes.

Copyright Office Update: Application filed by Pahari Performance Rights Association for registration of Copyright Society for Musical Works

A leader in power products and electrical home appliances, Usha International Ltd. (‘Usha Intl.’) is a highly popular domestic brand having several registrations of the mark “USHA” in its favor in Class-7, in relation to sewing machines. The company had adopted the said mark in 1936 and it was subsequently declared a well-known mark in the year 2004.

When it comes to protecting intellectual property rights against a person whose whereabouts are unknown, a legal remedial course of action is taken, which is known as a ‘John Doe order’. The recent case titled, ‘Allied Blenders and Distillers Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Ashok Kumar’ happens to be the latest in series of such orders that have been recently passed by venerable courts of the country. In India, John Doe order is also known as “Ashok Kumar order”.

The term ‘Green Intellectual Property’ refers to the innovation and protection of environmental benefitting or environmental friendly intellectual property. ‘Green Inventions’ on the other side are those technologies that are environmental friendly or that benefit the environment. They act as a sustainable technology for present and the future.

A suit was filed for permanent injunction restraining the violation and infringement of rights in the trademark/ trade dress/ packaging/layout of the plaintiff’s trademark being ‘ZINCITOTAL’, and for passing off, unfair competition, misrepresentation, dilution, damages/rendition of accounts, delivery up etc. The plaintiff is the registered proprietor in Class 5 of the trademark.

After McDonald's and Hindustan Unilever, Kajaria Ceramics Limited was the recent target to fall prey to the scam of cyber phishing. The latest variant of the scam, wherein ‘Scammers’ or ‘Phishers’ create fake websites of popular companies using deceptively similar domain names. These scammers use trademarks and copyrighted content of the popular brands and replicate the look and feel of the brand’s original website on their phishing websites..

Computers use IP addresses to identify devices. IP addresses are generally a series of numbers. However, it is difficult for humans to remember complex strings of numbers. Hence, domain names were developed and used to identify entities on the Internet. In simple words, a domain name can be said to be the name of a website. A domain name is the address where Internet users can access websites and locate a business with which the domain name is associated. For example - sony.com, yahoo.com, wipro.com, reliance.com, and the like.

RK Dewan & Co. is privileged to fight a tough battle for our client Mr. Suneel Darshan against the web-giant Google in a case of copyright infringement and winning it for our Clients! The case has various insightful observations which are discussed below.

The Delhi High Court recently granted an injunction against Rising India Entertainment Production & Ors (“the Defendant”) for use of the words “Miss India” or “Mr. India” with respect to beauty pageants. Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited & Ors. (popularly known as ‘the Times Group’) filed a suit at the Delhi High Court contending that the marks ‘Miss India’ and ‘Mr. India’ were its registered marks in classes 38 and 41.

On September 12, 2020, an application was filed in the European Union Intellectual Property Office (“EUIPO”) to register the trademark “ ”. French luxury brand, Louis Vuitton filed an opposition in November 2021, against the mark claiming that the mark “LOVES VITTORIO” looked ‘too familiar’ to its famous "

Adidas AG filed an opposition before the Japan Patent Office (JPO) against the mark ‘adidog’ which was applied for on October 17, 2016 and was published recently on August 30, 2019. The opposed mark ‘adidog’ was applied by an individual for pet clothing.

Inventor 1 exclaims, "Eureka!" Our invention has finally made it to the next level. Inventor 2: Let's file a patent application for the same. One year later: Inventor 1: Our process has become outmoded due to advances in technology. By substituting our instrument in one of the processes, we may increase the product's value by at least fourfold. Inventor 2: But the patent has already been submitted. Is it possible for us to make the change? Is it necessary for us to submit a new application?

NFTs have recently exploded in popularity, and lawsuits over them have begun to hit U.S. courts. NFTs are digital assets known as non-fungible tokens.

Provision of pre-grant opposition When a patent application is published and until the patent is granted, the Indian Patents Act, 1970, under section 25(1), allows any person to oppose by way of representation, the grant of a patent to the application.

Renaissance Hotel Holdings Inc. (RENAISSANCE) is a US-based multinational company which runs a chain of 160 luxury hotels across the world. RENAISSANCE owns the domain name ‘www.renaissancehotels.com’ and in India is the registered proprietor of the trademark “RENAISSANCE” since 1990.

Asian News International (‘ANI’), an Indian News Agency, owns the trademarks “ANI” (‘ANI trademarks’) and the domain names www.aniin.com and www.aninews.in. Another person registered the domain name domain name www.aninewsindia.com and started using the trademarks

Trademark Opposition is an integral stage involved in the process of trademark registration in India. As provided under Section 21 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, an application for registration of a trademark can be opposed by any person, once the same has been published in the Trademarks Journal within a period of four months from the date on which the mark was advertised in the Journal.

VST Industries Limited (“VST”) and Rudra Ventures Private Limited (“Rudra”) both manufacture cigarettes. VST is the owner of the trademark “TOTAL” and a special pack design in metallic blue and black. Rudra sells cigarettes under the trademark “TOPAZ” for several years.

Global Car Group PTE Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as ‘Global Car’) owns an e-commerce platform for pre-owned autos (cars and bikes). Global Car is the owner of a series of trademarks containing the numeral 24 trademarks inter alia “CARS24”,

Hon Hai Technology Group of Taiwan, also known as Foxconn, has secured over 54,200 invention patents across the world, with 62.5 percent of them granted in the United States and Japan.

Machinenfabrik Rieter AG (“Machinenfabrik”) filed a suit at the Delhi High Court, Machinenfabrik Rieter AG v. Tex Tech Industries (India) Private Limited & Anr. CS(COMM)327/2020, seeking a decree of permanent injunction to restrain Tex Tech Industries (India) Private Limited (“Tex Tech”) from infringing Machinenfabrik’s registered trademark RIETER (No. “418485” in Class 07) and Patent (No. IN 324406) by selling certain impugned goods.

On the internet and in social media, emoticons and other symbols are commonly used for communicating emotions via messages in posts. Recently another form of representing emotions has arrived….‘Internet Memes’. Presently, internets Memes (hereinafter referred as ‘Memes’) are extensively used by netizens at large to express their ideas and emotions in a humorous manner.

Sakal Media Group publishes newspapers under the name ‘Sakal’ in Marathi language (one of the local languages in India) and ‘Sakal Times’ in English. It’s body corporate, Sakal Papers Private Limited is the registered proprietor of the trademarks, inter alia, “Sakal” and “Sakal Times” (bearing nos.: 1971161 & 2431923) in Class 41. Newslaundry, another news agency, published articles about the alleged layoffs of employees at Sakal Times. Sakal Media Group publishes newspapers under the name ‘Sakal’ in Marathi language (one of the local languages in India) and ‘Saka

It is a very well accepted fact that trademarks are an important aspect of a business as they prove to be distinctive features of a business. With a single glance at a trademark or logo, the customer immediately associates it with a certain proprietor.

Lis Pendens literally means ‘litigation pending’ or ‘pending suit’ and is drawn from the concept based on the maxim “Pendente lite nihil innovature” which means that nothing new must be introduced while a litigation or suit is pending.

Himalaya Wellness Company (Himalaya) is involved in the manufacturing of Ayurvedic medicaments, preparations, and pharmaceutical-grade herbal and healthcare products since 1930. Its predecessors in business launched "Liv.52", a formulation for the treatment of hepatic ailments in the year 1955.

A Copyright is an exclusive right granted to a creator of an original work to reproduce his own work or authorise reproduction of the same to others for a fixed tenure after which the copyrighted work falls into public domain.

As per the scheme of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, Trademarks that are registered without any limitation to colors have been protected as trademarks registered under all colors. Any violation with respect to such a registered mark can fall under the virtue of “infringement of trademark” for the use of similar marks leading to confusion in the market.

The uprising of Artificial Intelligence machines (hereinafter referred as “AI”) is a popular and intriguing subject for many science fiction works. The advancement of AI machines and their progression with respect to playing a significant role in our lives has increased exponentially in the past few years.

On 15..03 2020, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India undertook suo motu cognizance of the difficulties that might be faced by the litigants, and had extended the limitation period prescribed under the general law of limitation or any special laws for filing petitions/ applications/ suits/ appeals/ all other proceedings “ till 15.03.2021”.

Consumers tend to recognize their preferred brand labels as a whole and not in broken fragments. This has been the view of Courts generally while hearing disputes relating to similar trademarks are brought before the court. However, a divergent view was taken by the Delhi High Court in the case of Hamdard National Foundation & Anr. vs. Sadar Laboratories.

V Guard Industries Limited (‘V Guard’) deals in pumps and motors, water heaters, and the like. It started using the trademark ‘PEBBLE’ (a device mark comprising the word ‘Pebble’ and an image) (bearing Registration No. 2541387 in Class 11) for heating installations and electric products in 2013 and also obtained registration for the said mark in the same year.

Rikhab Chand Jain (Rikhab) approached the Tis Hazari (Central District) District Court of Delhi, seeking a permanent injunction against M/s. DMR Textiles (DMR), restraining infringement of trademark and trade name, passing off, damages, etc. The District Court vide an earlier order had dismissed its application for an interim injunction. Rikhab filed an appeal before the Hon’ble Delhi High Court but no stay was granted.

The goodwill of a business depends upon the reputation it creates over a period of time. When consumers decide between companies that provide comparable goods and prices, it is the goodwill of a company which sets it apart from the competitors. Therefore, goodwill is an important aspect of a business, which if compromised, can be a huge threat to the brand.

The lack of transparency has been an unsaid norm in the entertainment industry. All an investor wants, is to know the whereabouts of the projects that they have funded and get an equitable distribution. One of the assurances that Blockchain provides is, fidelity and security of a record of data and generates trust without the need for a trusted third party while helping investors to ascertain what’s going on with money in regards to their investment and its repayment.

These days we observe that a lot of social media ‘celebs’ voicing their opinions and commenting on public affairs. These social media ‘celebs’ include actors, sportsmen, influencers, and YouTubers. Are they empowered to do so, if not, then what are the repercussion of their opinions or comments?

It was au revoir to one of India’s most astute Intellectual Property Judicial forums alias IPAB (Intellectual Property Appellate Tribunal) when the Ministry of Law and Justice notified in its official gazette the IPAB’s dissolution vide The Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021.