The issue of IP protection of jewellery has hardly been discussed or adjudicated upon in India. Generally, it is understood that the sketch of the jewellery design can be protected as artistic work under copyright law, while the actual appearance of the jewellery, such as the configuration, pattern can be protected under design law. But, it’s more complicated than that. There are many questions without clear answers, such as, whether jewellery is protectable under copyright or design law in India,…

Of Geospatial Data Deregulation, Intellectual Property and Personal Data Protection

by Adyasha Samal March 5, 2021

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On 15th February, the Department of Science and Technology released a new set of guidelines liberalising India’s Mapping and Geospatial Data regime by removing the existing multi-layered licensing procedures applicable on private entities. In light of these guidelines, I will discuss how maps and geospatial data can be protected as intellectual property, as well as the possible interplay between IP concerns and the personal data protection regime. The New Guidelines Historically, India has maintained a strong regulatory mechanism over mapping and geospatial…

Trademark

BigBasket and Daily Basket Row – Confusion or Bullying?

by Anupriya Dhonchak March 4, 2021

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As widely reported in the media, and shared via social media posts, the legal team of BigBasket sent a ‘cease and desist letter’ to Daily Basket on 17th February, 2021 alleging infringement of their trademark. The disparity in the sizes of both the companies was immediately evident to everyone: BigBasket by its own admission is the largest online food and grocery store in India whereas Daily Basket claims to be a tiny bootstrapped Coimbatore-based two-person start-up. Daily Basket is an…

Patent

Intellectual Property Appellate/Advisory/Adjudicatory Board?

by SpicyIP March 1, 2021

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We are pleased to bring our readers another guest post by Amit Tailor, discussing a recent practice he has observed of the IPAB/Board ‘suggesting’ amendments to patent applicants, and allowing them without concurring with the Controller. The post also goes on to review the statutory vires of this practice. Amit is working as Manager (Sr. Scientist) at Cadila Healthcare Ltd., handling patent drafting, filing & prosecution, FTO, patentability & invalidity mainly. He has an LL.B. from the Faculty of Law,…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (February 22 – 28)

by Nikhil Purohit March 1, 2021

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Thematic Highlight A Draft “Open” IP Syllabus In this post, Swaraj shared the first draft version of an ‘Open’ IP Syllabus that he along with a small team of researchers has worked on in the last few months. The syllabus is aimed to contain materials that are legally and publicly available free of cost and outside of paywalls, touching upon diverse themes concerning intellectual property law. While the completion of the entire syllabus is expected to take some time, this…

Drug Regulation Others

DCGI Draws Ire of Delhi High Court for Violating the RTI Act

by Mathews P. George March 1, 2021

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The Single Bench of the Delhi High Court headed by Justice Pratibha Singh, in its recent order in Prashant Reddy v DCGI, came down heavily on the drug regulator for egregious violation of the Right to Information Act. The case arose in relation to the report of Dr. T.M. Mohapatra Committee, a committee which was constituted by the Drugs Controller General of India pursuant to the scathing criticisms in the 59th Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on the existing mechanism for…

A Draft “Open” IP Syllabus

by Swaraj Paul Barooah February 25, 2021

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Image showing various 'Open' related logos, with text "IP Textbooks. It's always Open Access O'Clock. Download and Enjoy"

Despite the plethora of materials online, any student, researcher or professor would know that access to scholarly information is a lot more difficult than what it should be. Most of the time, if you’re serious about research, the ‘research’ journey is more about how many paywalls you can climb (legally or not so legally), as much as it is about how good the material you can find is. To get around this, many folks rely on plug-ins like UnPayWall and…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (February 15 – 21)

by Anupriya Dhonchak February 22, 2021

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Topical Highlight Justice Prabha Sridevan on Govt’s Proposal to Shut Down IPAB and the Way Forward In this guest post, Justice (Retd.) Prabha Sridevan notes that the Government’s proposal to scrap the IPAB is a welcome change. She argues that the functioning of the IPAB makes the two ostensible reasons for tribunalisation unsustainable: expert insight and speedy justice. She argues that regular courts are also more than capable of eliciting expert opinions, citing multiple cases where this has been done. Further,…

Justice Prabha Sridevan on Govt’s Proposal to Shut Down IPAB and the Way Forward

by SpicyIP February 18, 2021

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We’re pleased to bring to you a guest post by Justice (Retd.) Prabha Sridevan on the recent Bill moved by the Government in the Parliament proposing to shut down IPAB and the way forward. Justice Sridevan needs no introduction – she served as a judge of the Madras High Court from 2000 to 2010 and as the Chairperson of the IPAB from 2011 to 2013 and her stint as both resulted in a number of significant IP developments, which we…

Justice Manmohan Singh Holds Hearings at IPAB Despite Supreme Court Ruling

by Praharsh Gour February 16, 2021

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Heard it through the grapevine and saw in the causelist that Retd. Justice Manmohan Singh is still holding hearings in the IPAB and passing orders. Just a couple of days ago we reported that the application for Justice Singh’s extension as the IPAB Chairperson was rejected by the Supreme Court. The Court in its judgement (pdf) expressly noted that the tenure of the incumbent Chairperson ended on 21.09.2019 and further rejected the notion that the incumbent must remain as the…

Anastasiia { The Protection of Non-Traditional Trademarks Critical Perspectives Edited by Irene Calboli and Martin Senftleben https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-protection-of-non-traditional-trademarks-9780198826576?cc=es&lang=en& }
{ The pre-grant opposition u/s 25(1) I believe isn't admissible once the controller is done deciding the application. The application was marked as 'in order for grant' and hence... }
Amit Tailor { Thank you very much, sir, for such a detailed discussion and analysis of the relevant statute. The aim of this post was, indeed, to highlight these issues you... }
Amit Tailor { While this article was under review, one more decision which can broadly be covered under the umbrella of this article was issued by the board and I have... }
sanjeev kr chaswal { I have read your post regarding recent orders issued IPAB and you have raised a pertinent question whether IPAB is a Appellate/Advisory/Adjudicatory authority or Tribunal, but in my... }

De-Coding Indian Intellectual Property Law

Protection of Jewellery: A Combination of Trademark, Design and Copyright Law? – Part I

Of Geospatial Data Deregulation, Intellectual Property and Personal Data Protection

BigBasket and Daily Basket Row – Confusion or Bullying?

Intellectual Property Appellate/Advisory/Adjudicatory Board?

SpicyIP Weekly Review (February 22 – 28)

DCGI Draws Ire of Delhi High Court for Violating the RTI Act

A Draft “Open” IP Syllabus

SpicyIP Weekly Review (February 15 – 21)

Justice Prabha Sridevan on Govt’s Proposal to Shut Down IPAB and the Way Forward

Justice Manmohan Singh Holds Hearings at IPAB Despite Supreme Court Ruling