Adyasha Samal

Adyasha is a graduate from Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur.

Bombay HC Rejects Mandatory Copyright Registration: Is it time to Reconsider Automatic Protection?

by Adyasha Samal March 29, 2021

Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court ruled that registration of copyright is not mandatory for obtaining relief in an infringement action. Seemingly a statement of the obvious, this decision by Justice GS Patel corrects a nine-year old blunder by a coordinate bench of the same court in Dhiraj Dewani v. Sonal Infosystems that had refused relief due to the absence of registration. As Rahul Bajaj explains here, the court in the said case had taken it upon itself to…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (March 1-7)

by Adyasha Samal March 8, 2021

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Topical Highlight BigBasket and Daily Basket Row – Confusion or Bullying? Anupriya analysed the widely reported ‘cease and desist letter’ sent by BigBasket to Daily Basket alleging infringement of their trademark on the word, ‘Basket.’ She begins by explaining how the term “basket” pretty much indicates grocery business in general. She revisits the Trade Marks Act and a number of cases discussing the spectrum of distinctiveness of a trademark and argues that while comparing marks, it is incorrect to take a…

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…

Patent

The Amended Form 27 and Uncertainty in Timelines for Filing

by Adyasha Samal February 15, 2021

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We have received a lead from one of our readers on an issue regarding the filing of working statements (Form 27) as per the amendments made to Patent Rules, 2003 in October last year. The Patent Rules, 2003 require patentees as well as patent licensees to file a statement disclosing information regarding the extent to which the patented invention has been worked in India on a commercial scale. The format for this statement is Form 27, provided in the Second…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (February 8-14)

by Adyasha Samal February 15, 2021

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Topical Highlight Breaking: Supreme Court Dismisses Application Seeking Extension of Justice Manmohan Singh as IPAB Chairperson Praharsh informed our readers that this week the Supreme Court dismissed the AIPPI application seeking another extension to the tenure of the incumbent IPAB Chairperson. The application for extension was a part of a writ petition which was disposed of by the court after tagging it to Madras High Court Bar Association decision. Praharsh highlights the issues taken up by the court – the laws regarding…

Comparative Advertising Copyright Geographical Indication Patent

SpicyIP Fortnightly Review (January 11-24)

by Adyasha Samal January 25, 2021

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Topical Highlight Delhi HC Order Cripples Authors’ Royalty Rights in Underlying Works I critiqued the Delhi High Court’s order in IPRS v. ENIL, which held that underlying works incorporated in sound recordings are not utilized and do not incur royalty when the sound recording is used. I briefly review how the 2012 Amendment was brought in to recognise authors of underlying works’ inalienable right to royalty. In this order, the court has accepted the argument that it is the producer…

Delhi HC Order Cripples Authors’ Royalty Rights in Underlying Works

by Adyasha Samal January 19, 2021

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A shocking order delivered by the Delhi HC on 4th January in IPRS v. ENIL and PPL v. CRI Events, only days after the landmark radio royalty statutory license order, has held that underlying works incorporated in sound recordings are not utilized and do not incur royalty when the sound recording is used! The order goes on to interpret the 2012 Amendment in a manner that almost completely extinguishes the rights of authors of underlying works. Underlying Works and Royalty…

IPAB’s First Statutory License Order Overhauls Radio Royalty System

by Adyasha Samal January 18, 2021

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On 31st December 2020, an IPAB bench consisting of the Chairman Manmohan Singh J. and two technical members Surya Senthil and SP Chockalingam, delivered a grand statutory license order for radio broadcasts under Section 31D of the Copyright Act. We had previously blogged about the Public Notice issued by IPAB seeking suggestions from stakeholders for the fixation of these rates. The notice came in the wake of the expiry of the erstwhile Copyright Board’s compulsory license order (CB order) under Section…

Take Two!: Screenwriters Rights Association of India Applies for Registration as Copyright Society… Again

by Adyasha Samal January 10, 2021

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[This post has been co-authored with Varsha Jhavar.] Recently, the Screenwriters Rights Association of India (SRAI) filed a revised application before the Registrar of Copyrights to be recognised as a copyright society under Section 33 of the Copyright Act, 1957. SRAI aims to negotiate, collect and distribute royalties on behalf of screenwriters in works authored by them. It had previously applied for registration in 2017 as well, but the application disappeared for unknown reasons (see the discussion here). On 27 November…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (December 21 – 27)

by Adyasha Samal December 28, 2020

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Topical Highlight Time to More Seriously Question the Spectre of Copyright in the Realm of Education Swaraj reported that SciHub and LibGen were taken to court by Elsevier UK, Wiley India, Wiley Periodicals USA, and American Chemical Society for copyright infringement, seeking a dynamic injunction. He highlights several issues that are likely to gain attention regarding this dispute – the contrast between the heavy profit-making, increasingly online model of the publishers and Sci-Hub and LibGen’s complete non-profit, no charge, no…

Aparajita Lath { Hi Amit - thank you so much for your comment and these insights! As you point out there is an easy, practical or technical fix to this. The... }
Shobhit { Thats the whole problem with this line of judgment. Even a modest 1000 cr. brand can never protect its IP as the court fee itself for each suit... }
Anon { See paras 42 - 46 of vishal judgment. The Delhi High Court and Kerala High court held that the valuation of the suit for the purposes of Court... }
Anon { See paras 42 - 46 of vishal judgment. The Delhi High Court and Kerala High court held that the valuation of the suit for the purposes of Court... }
Shobhit { Also, to highlight another interesting development from the ground, an order by a District Commercial Court observing: "Consequent upon directions of Delhi High Court in case ' Vishal... }