Author name: Latha Nair

Latha is a partner with the Indian IP boutique, K&S Partners. An alumnus of NLSIU Bangalore, Latha’s practice in the firm focuses on prosecution and enforcement of trademarks, domain names and copyrights as well as advisory and transactional work relating thereto. A niche area of her practice also focuses on the protection of geographical indications. Latha has published several articles on trademarks, copyrights, geographical indications and data protection over the years and the same are available on her firm’s website www.knspartners.com. Currently, she serves as a Principal Editor to International Trademark Association’s online searchable guide on ‘Geographical Indications, Certification Marks & Collective Marks’. She is also a regular speaker at various national and international fora on issues relating to intellectual property.

A Response to the Alternate Interpretation on Permissibility of Sub-licensing under Indian Trademark Law

/ By / Trademark

Last week, Kapil had written a guest post giving an alternate interpretation to the arguments in my post on the impermissibility of sub-licensing arrangements under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 (‘the TM Act’). The main counter points by Kapil against my argument that the TM Act does not permit sub-licensing, as I understand, are listed below: The TM Act does not explicitly restrict the provision of sub-licensing clauses in an agreement between a proprietor and a user. Section 2(1)(r)(i) read […]

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Is Sub-Licensing of a Trademark Permitted under the Indian Trade Marks Act?

/ By / Trademark

Last month, I had blogged about the feasibility of a sub-license under the Indian copyright law. In this blog post, I will examine the issue whether the Indian Trade Marks Act, 1999 (“the TM Act”) permits sub-licensing of trademarks. An oft-discussed issue while working on corporate deals which involve IP licensing is the insistence by a licensee that its “right to sub-license” the mark must be provided for in the agreement. In my opinion, it is not permissible under the

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Is Sub-licensing Contemplated under the Indian Copyright Act?

/ By / Copyright

This post analyses whether the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 (“the Act”) permits sub-licensing by a licencee. The inspiration for this post is my frequent involvement with advice on the IP components in corporate deals, where there is a usual clause about the licencee’s ‘right to sub-license’ copyright granted to the licencee. It is not rare for the licencee to insist that the ‘right to sub-license’ exists under the Act and that it is a ‘matter of interpretation’ of the provisions

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COVID-19: How Best Can the Indian IP Office Help its Stakeholders? [Updated]

/ By / COVID-19, Design, Geographical Indication, Others

In these unprecedented times where a pandemic has brought the globe to a standstill, the top-most concern of IP owners (of course, other than to save themselves from COVID-19) would be about meeting deadlines in IP prosecution. This is because, deadlines in IP prosecution are often hard deadlines, and if extendable, involve a fee – sometimes these require the filing of signed/ notarised/ stamped documents. This concern is equally and anxiously shared by IP lawyers who assist IP owners around

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Should India Join the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement, 2015?

/ By / Geographical Indication

WIPO’s Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications (“the Geneva Act”) was adopted on May 20, 2015. On February 26, the Geneva Act officially entered into force after the European Union acceded to the same. Currently, the Geneva Act is effective in 31 countries (Albania, Cambodia, North Korea, Samoa and 27 EU member countries). How is the Geneva Act different from the Lisbon Agreement? The enactment of the Geneva Act was a result of

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Parachute Disparagement Case: Free Speech, Yes; but Not at the Cost of Falsehoods

/ By / Comparative Advertising, Others

This is a rejoinder to Prashant’s recent post, replying to my post on the order of the Division Bench (DB) of the Bombay High Court in the Marico disparagement case. My post was primarily to point out the factual errors committed by the DB in arriving at its conclusions – not on Marico’s legal strategy, as Prashant has stated in his post. Now that Prashant has raised the important point of free speech, let me express my views on that

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Cartoon image of coconut with straw, with caption "This whole experience has left me feeling empty inside"

Bom HC Division Bench Stays Interim Injunction against Vlogger in Parachute Disparagement Case

/ By / Comparative Advertising, Others

Last month, I had blogged about Marico v. Abhijeet Bhansali where a Single Judge of the Bombay High Court directed the defendant, Abhijeet Bhansali (‘Bhansali’) to take down (in the interim) an offending video because he prima facie made false and reckless statements about Marico’s coconut oil branded, “Parachute”. On February 14, a Division Bench (DB) of the Court lifted the injunction and permitted Bhansali (aka ‘Bearded Chokra’) to post the video subject to replacement of one line in the

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Delhi HC Division Bench Sets Aside Order Restraining E-Commerce Platforms from Selling Goods of Direct Selling Companies

/ By / Others, Trademark

Last week, a Division Bench (DB) of the Delhi High Court set aside a common judgment passed by a Single Judge thereof in July last year in Amway India Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. v. 1Mg Technologies Pvt. Ltd. & Anr. The common judgment addressed the interlocutory applications filed in seven suits by Direct Selling Entities (the DSEs), Amway, Modicare and Oriflame against e-commerce platforms including Amazon, Snapdeal and Flipkart (the defendants). The DSEs engage direct sellers of their products to sell, distribute

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Brand Protection in the Age of Social Media Influencers: Bom HC in Parachute Disparagement Case

/ By / Comparative Advertising, Others

What happens when social media influencers such as bloggers and vloggers comment on the quality of branded products recklessly? Earlier this month, Justice Kathawala of the Bombay High Court had granted an interim injunction against one such vlogger’s video in Marico Limited v. Abhijeet Bhansali. The branded product in issue is PARACHUTE coconut oil sold by Marico Limited, the plaintiff, and the vlogger involved is Abhijeet Bhansali, the defendant. Background and Facts Bhansali makes a living solely by creating and

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Kerala HC Directs Film Release without Script Writer’s Name in ‘Mamankam’ Moral Rights Dispute

/ By / Copyright

This post covers the judgement delivered by the Kerala High Court in Sajeev Pillai v. Venu Kunnapalli & Anr., earlier this month. ‘Mamankam’ is a grand festival which used to be held once in 12 years on the banks of the Bharathapuzha river in Kerala during the 14th to 19th century. The appellant, Sajeev Pillai, a film director and a script writer, claims to have researched the history of Mamankam and to have written a script for a film. Stated

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