Author name: Praharsh Gour

Praharsh Gour is an Editor and Researcher at SpicyIP, where he writes on developments in intellectual property law, innovation policy, and international trade. His work focuses on the intersection of IP and international trade, particularly the realpolitik implications of global IP enforcement for the Global South, including questions of access, regulatory governance, and institutional reform. He holds a B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) from Hidayatullah National Law University and a Master’s degree from South Asian University. Prior to joining SpicyIP, he worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, where he assisted in matters concerning countervailing duties, antidumping, and safeguard investigations.

Is There More Than Meets the Eye? Delhi High Court and the Recent Section 124 Dilemmas

/ By / Trademark

[The post is co-authored with SpicyIP Intern Tejaswini Kaushal. Tejaswini is a 3rd-year B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) student at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow. Her previous posts can be accessed here.] Recent orders by the Delhi High Court in Nadeem Majid Oomberbhoy v. Gautam Tank and Anr. and Mr. Amrish Aggarwal Trading as M/s Mahalaxmi Product v. M/S Venus Home Appliances Pvt Ltd, delivered by Justice C. Hari Shankar, have spurred debate and discussion around the application and

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Only 6 More Days to File Comments/ Suggestions on IP Manuals and Guidelines!

/ By / Copyright, Geographical Indication, Patent, Trademark

A gentle reminder to our readers that the last day to submit comments for the revision of the Patent, Designs, Trademark, GI and Copyright Manuals and Guidelines is just around the corner. As discussed earlier, CGPDTM has invited comments from the interested stakeholders by October 15, 2023. The relevant links to the present manuals and guidelines are given below:- As explained in the above post, these manuals and guidelines are paramount owing to their role in the implementation of the

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A Deeper Look into the Humans of Bombay and People of India Fiasco

/ By / Copyright

[This post has been co-authored with Swaraj and Nivrati Gupta. Nivrati is an IP lawyer based in Delhi and is a graduate of Institute of Law, Nirma University Ahmedabad. Long post ahead.] The Delhi High Court recently in Humans of Bombay v People of India granted an interim relief to ‘Humans of Bombay’ (HoB) by issuing a notice to ‘People of India’ (PoI) (both being social media pages) for alleged copyright infringement and ‘replication of HoB’s business model’ including the

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Comments on the Draft Patent (Amendment) Rules, 2023

/ By / Patent

As highlighted earlier, yesterday was the last day to share comments/ recommendations with the Ministry of Commerce on the draft Patent (Amendment) Rules, 2023. While on the blog, we have had posts by Md. Sabeeh Ahmad titled “The Times They Are a-Changin’? A Look at the Revised Patent Prosecution Timelines in the Draft Patent Amendment Rules” and by Swaraj and I titled “Draft Patent Amendment Rules – Increasing Efficiency of Granting Patent Monopolies While Forgetting the Reason for Allowing Them

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SpicyIP Tidbit: CGPDTM Issues Public Notice Limiting the Access to Trademark Public Search and E-Registry Features

/ By / Trademark

Trademark lawyers and researchers rely extensively on the Public Search and E-Register features of the Trademarks Registry’s website. But often it gets excruciatingly slow and painful to access the desired information owing to the massive bulk of traffic and other issues with the Trademark Registry’s servers in place. Acknowledging this issue, the office of Controller General of Patent Design and Trademark (CGPDTM) has issued a public notice announcing the unavailability of the Trademark Public Search feature and the E-register feature

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SpicyIP Tidbit: CGPDTM Notifies Patent and Trademark Agent Exams 2024

/ By / Opportunities, Others, Patent, Trademark

The CGPDTM has notified the 2024 Patent and Trademarks Agents Exams. The Trademarks Agent Exam is “likely” to be held on January 06, 2024 and the Patent Agent Exam is “likely” to be held on January 7, 2024 in 14 locations- Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Ranchi, and Vishakhapatnam. Both exams will be conducted in 2 sessions of 2 hours (objective type) and 3 hours (descriptive type) respectively. The eligibility of the candidates

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Preliminary Exams for the Recruitment of Patent and Designs Examiners Cancelled!

/ By / Design, Patent

Just a day after conducting the Preliminary exams for the recruitment of the Patent and Design Examiners, the Quality Control Council of India (QCI) on September 4, announced that the same has been cancelled due to “some irregularities/ technical glitches.” The reason for such a move is stated as “to ensure fairness, credibility, and transparency in the recruitment process.” But it is surprising to see that the public notice neither specifies what these irregularities and technical glitches were nor does

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SpicyIP Tidbit: CGPDTM Calls for Comments and Suggestions on Different IP Manuals and Guidelines

/ By / Copyright, Design, Geographical Indication, Patent, Trademark

On August 30, the office of the Controller General of Patents, Design and Trademarks (CGPDTM) released a public notice inviting comments from stakeholders to revamp the Patents, Designs, Trademarks, GI and Copyright Manuals and Guidelines. The role of these manuals and guidelines is paramount as they help in implementing the provisions of the Statutes and Rules in a more streamlined manner by the officers and give an insight into the functioning of the office. Interestingly, the issue of revising the

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Jharkhand High Court Quashes Criminal Proceedings Alleging Copyright Infringement Against a Professor

/ By / Copyright

A couple of weeks ago, I discussed the case of a law student in Bengaluru who alleged copyright infringement against two assistant professors. Just a couple of weeks later I’ve now come across news of another student alleging copyright infringement, (Paras Kumar Choudhary vs The State of Jharkhand), but this time a criminal proceeding was instituted against the professor! This was later quashed by the Jharkhand High Court on August 10, 2023.  The proceeding was initiated by one Dr. Shambhu

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SpicyIP Tidbit: No Cure for the Plaintiff’s Heartburns? Delhi High Court Rejects an Interim Injunction Application against Defendant’s Anti-Acidity Drug Despite Finding Trademark Infringement

/ By / Trademark

On August 16, the Delhi High Court passed an order in Sun Pharma Laboratories Ltd. v. Finecure Pharmaceuticals which is sure to have caught the attention of trademark lawyers. The court refused to grant an interim injunction to the plaintiff despite finding that the defendant had infringed the plaintiff’s mark. The court reasoned this by holding that prima facie trademark registration seems invalid, questioning the veracity of the registration order by the Trademark Registry and also finding that since the defendants were

SpicyIP Tidbit: No Cure for the Plaintiff’s Heartburns? Delhi High Court Rejects an Interim Injunction Application against Defendant’s Anti-Acidity Drug Despite Finding Trademark Infringement Read More »

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