Author name: Lokesh Vyas

Lokesh is a Phd candidate at SciencesPo, Paris, where he is examining the "Genealogy of "Balance" discourse in International Copyright Law" under the guidance of Professors Séverine Dusollier and Alain Pottage. Lokesh graduated from the Institute of Law Nirma University and later studied LLM at American University Washington College of Law as an Arcadia Fellow and the Arodhum Scholar. He is interested in the issues around knowledge governance and information regulation which he enjoys exploring through history and philosophy. He has won several essay competitions, notably the Professor Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition, 2020 and the annual ATRIP Essay Competition, 2023. He can be contacted at lokesh.vyas[at]sciencespo[dot]fr

Governance and Supervision of Trademark and Patent Agents: Discussing DHC’s Saurav Chaudhary vs. Union Of India

/ By / Others

Image from here The Delhi High Court recently in Saurav Chaudhary Vs Union Of India & Anr. underscored that there is a need to supervise or govern patent and trademark agents. Interestingly, the same has also been raised earlier by Prashant, Aparajita, and Praharsh. This post discusses the case and argues that there already exists a mechanism under the Patent and trademark laws that govern and supervise such agents. Plus, I argue that the liability of such an agent should be […]

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Journey Through “Augusts” on SpicyIP (2005 – Present)

/ By / Others

Image from here In the previous months, I journeyed through the posts published in “Junes” and “Julys” of decades past on SpicyIP, tracking how some IP stories developed over the years. Whether it is South Asian Basmati Brawls, the much-to-tread trail of transparency, the Statements of Patent (Non-)Working, or the Indian “Bayh Dole” Bill, some stories never cease to beguile us. In this post, let’s continue the journey and sift through SpicyIP’s “August” pages from 2005 to the present and

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SpicyIP Tidbit: Some Strengthening of the Right to Information Act, 2005 From the Judicial Side

/ By / Others

Image from studio tdes here Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 has been in the news for the last few days, especially for its dilution at the hands of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 which takes away the public interest test while exempting personal information from the RTI Act. (See here and here for more on this). While this move has the potential to severely impact the efficacy of the RTI Act, I recently came across two other

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Journey Through “Julys” on SpicyIP (2005 – Present)

/ By / Others

Last month, while sifting through the pages of “Junes” on SpicyIP, I pored over some old posts to see what has or has not changed in these years. Whether it’s P.H. Kurian’s trail of transparency, discussions about authors and copyright societies, updates on the international IP landscape, or the hustle and bustle of the domestic IP domain, including Statements of Patent (Non-)Working, the journey through Junes had its own jilts and joys. Now, once more, guided by Sankofa sense, I set

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Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023: Of Piracy and Penalties

/ By / Others

Image from here On July 31, the Lok Sabha passed Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which was earlier passed by the Rajya Sabha on July 27, 2023. It amends the Cinematograph Act, 1952 after almost 40 years, with the last significant amendments being made in 1984. There had been earlier attempts to amend the Act through amendment bills in 2010, 2019 (discussed by Divij here), and 2021 (discussed by Adyasha here). While the Amendment Act is not substantially different from the 2021

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Year 1958 and Government’s “Nadir-shahi Firman” Over Copyright Infringement!

/ By / Copyright

While glancing through some initial Indian copyright cases after independence, I chanced upon a quirky 1958 case from Allahabad High Court and thought of sharing it with our readers. So, the year was 1958, a curious case came before the Allahabad High Court – J.N. Bhagga And Ors. vs State (AIR 1959 All 492). It was an appeal by the State of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) against the order of the Additional District Magistrate Allahabad acquitting the respondents of the offense

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Monday Trademark Musings

/ By / Trademark

We are having a lot of trademark disputes these days (keep a check on our weekly reviews.); with every other day seeming to bring new issues to look at. In the last two weeks, I noticed three cases that intrigued me and made me wonder about their conceptual coherence. In this post, I present those cases and broach some questions for discussion. Please note that a full discussion of facts and arguments is not done in this post. Who is

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SpicyIP Tidbit: Delhi High Court says Registration of a Design can be Prima Facie Proof of Validity.

/ By / Design

On March 14, 2023, in Sirona Hygiene Private Limited Vs Amazon Seller Services Private Ltd, the Delhi High Court provided three interesting points on the issue of design infringement and piracy, in the context of an equally interesting fact scenario! The plaintiff claims that the registered design of a disposable female urination device titled “Pee Buddy” has been infringed by defendant who allegedly manufactures and sells identical devices under the name “Namyaa”.  The first point is the court’s remark that

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SpicyIP Tidbit: Additional Records Allowed Before Framing of the Issues Says the Delhi High Court

/ By / Trademark

Recently, on 6th March 2023, in Bennett Coleman & Co. vs ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd, a case concerning trademark infringement the Delhi High Court allowed the application for placing additional documents on records. But what makes this case worth tidbit-ing is the court’s open remarks and clarifications on adding new documents on record. The Court had stated that the “power … to permit additional documents to be taken on record if a party gives sufficient cause for not filing

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SpicyIP Tidbit: Madras High Court Directs the State Government to Issue a Notification for Establishing Intellectual Property Division

/ By / Others

In a recent writ petition filed by M/s.Galatea Limited regarding its pending case before IPAB, Chennai to be heard before the Madras High Court (MHC), the court directed the State Government to issue notification for the inauguration of the Intellectual Property Division (IPD). The court noted that “litigants intending to pursue disputes pertaining to intellectual property are left remediless for a long time after the abolition of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board.” Respondent’s counsel argued that the Registrar General has

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