Author name: Mihir Naniwadekar

Intellectual Property Rights and Competition Law: Friends or Foes?

/ By / Competition Law, Innovation

In several previous posts, we have debated on aspects of the interaction of IP with competition law. These issues are all the more important in Indian intellectual property now, with the coming into force of several provisions of the Competition Act, 2002. The possibility of tensions between IP and competition law seems to have been present in the mind of the legislature, when it made some IP-specific exceptions in Section 3(5) of the Act. Among the important questions which are …

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National Law School of India Review: Call for Papers

/ By / Uncategorized

The National Law School of India Review has issued a call for papers for publication in Volume 22(1). Here is the call: The National Law School of India Review (NLSIR) is the flagship journal of one of India’s premier law institutions, the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. The NLSIR is a peer-reviewed journal, and is published twice a year. The latest issue – Volume 21(1) – included contributions from Justice S.B. Sinha, Judge, Supreme Court of India; Mr. …

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The Competition Commission: Separation of Power troubles again?

/ By / Competition Law

Earlier on this blog, a series of posts had covered some of the IP-related issues in the Competition Act, 2002. Now, with several of the Acts provisions in force, I intend to look at some aspects of the Act in detail. Particularly, I intend to focus on the following areas; though with the help of our readers’ comments, I hope that the discussion shall cover other related areas too: 1. The Competition Commission 2. Exclusive agreements: When are they anti-competitive? …

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Parallel Imports and Exhaustion: A Different Framework for Copyrights?

/ By / Copyright

Justice Ravindra Bhat of the Delhi High Court has – through several important judgments – helped advance the understanding of intellectual property law in the country. While his judgments need not necessarily be seen as the only correct point of view, they at least have helped stimulate debate on several important issues. On this blog itself, his decisions have been the subject of much discussion, as evidenced in posts linked here. His recent judgment in CS(OS) No. 1692/2006, Warner Bros. …

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Copyright in Chess: IP going a bit too far?

/ By / Copyright

Duncan Bucknell (IP ThinkTank)’s Global Week in Review recently highlighted this post on the IP Factor blog which raises some rather entertaining questions pertaining to copyrights. Apparently, the Bulgarian Chess Federation banned ChessBase, among the world’s best chess websites, from broadcasting a game live, citing copyright infringement… Essentially, as games from top tournaments are played, several websites broadcast the moves – either on an online chessboard, or in written form (for instance, 1. e4 e5. 2. Nf3 Nc6 – the …

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Foreign Intellectual Property: Narrowing the effect of Tyburn’s case

/ By / Uncategorized

A previous post discussed the issue of whether (as a matter of private international law) a domestic Court could hear matters connected to the protection of foreign intellectual property rights. A recent decision of Mann J. in the High Court (Chancery Division) – Lucasfilm v. Ainsworth, [2009] F.S.R. 2 – appears to have held that it can. I had mentioned that the decision in Tyburn’s case held that domestic Courts do not have jurisdiction over claims related to foreign intellectual …

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Jurisdiction and Forum Non Conveniens: Part II – On IP and PIL

/ By / Uncategorized

The interface between private international law and intellectual property raises some complex problems in legal policy. This post merely seeks to highlight a few issues in relation to this interface. Over here, I had noted that the doctrine of forum non conveniens would apply even between two domestic Courts. The principles would be the same as the principles for the application of the doctrine in a private international law context. The position is summed up by Dicey and Morris on …

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Jurisdiction and Forum Non Conveniens: Part I

/ By / Uncategorized

A recent post had led to an interesting discussion on the appropriateness and applicability of the principle of ‘forum non conveniens’ in domestic law. Usually, the principle is applied in the context of private international law. Within a domestic system, the principle is applied in cases where the judicial structure is federal and not unified in structure. The debate assumes importance given the expansions in jurisdiction under certain legislations which allow the plaintiff a choice to file a suit in …

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Jurisdiction in cases of Design infringement

/ By / Copyright, Design

Justice Shivakumar of the Madras High Court recently passed an order in Urooj Ahmed v. Maya Appliances, A. No. 5533/2008 in CS No. 949/2008; and the order is path-breaking. It is path-breaking not because of an excellent interpretation of the law, but because of the discovery of novel uses of the English language. The Court was faced with a pure question of law. Can a suit for infringement of design be filed in the Court within whose jurisdiction the plaintiff …

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Time to remedy the remedy of Injunctions?

/ By / Copyright

How far should injunctions be used as a remedy in copyright cases? That was the question faced by the Supreme Court in Academy of General Education v. Malini Mallya. Dr. Kota Shivarama Karanth, a Jnanapeeth awardee, was stated to have developed a new form of the traditional ‘Yakshagana’, named ‘Yaksha Ranga’. Dr. Karanth was the Director of the Appellant academy, while the respondent claimed that she was the owner of the copyright by virtue of Dr. Karanth’s will. It was …

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