Author name: Prashant Reddy

T. Prashant Reddy graduated from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, with a B.A.LLB (Hons.) degree in 2008. He later graduated with a LLM degree (Law, Science & Technology) from the Stanford Law School in 2013. Prashant has worked with law firms in Delhi and in academia in India and Singapore. He is also co-author of the book Create, Copy, Disrupt: India's Intellectual Property Dilemmas (OUP).

DIPP receives diverse suggestions on reforming the IPO – Poor response from the IP Bar

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The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has recently posted on its website all the feedback received by it in response to its discussion paper on the ‘Review of the Organizational Structure of the Controller General of Patents, Designs, Trademarks and Geographical Indication’. The Department has received feedback from a number of organizations including INTA, INTERPAT, OPPI, IPA, FICCI etc. All the responses can be accessed over here. The most interesting submissions, in my opinion, is from the ‘Officials […]

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Yash Raj Films dragged to Court for alleged copyright infringement in ‘Ladies v. Ricky Bahl’

/ By / Copyright

In yet another case of its kind, the producers of “Naan Avan Illai”, a hit Tamil movie in 2007, filed a lawsuit against Yash Raj Chopra alleging that their recent release “Ladies v. Ricky Bahl” was infringing the copyright belonging to the former. The Tamil Movie in itself is a remake of a 1974 movie by the same name starring superstar – Gemini Ganesan. According to Wikipedia, the 1974 version was a remake of a 1962 Marathi film and play

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CIC recommends disciplinary action against errant CPIO at Trademark Registry

/ By / Trademark

In a landmark decision on the 24th of November, 2011, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has recommended disciplinary action against an errant Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) for repeatedly violating the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005. The decision of the CIC can be accessed over here. We were pointed towards this decision by an anonymous commentator who left a comment on an earlier post of ours involving the same CPIO. Image from here. The Central Information Commission

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‘Chennai Live’ 104.8 calls PPL’s bluff on U.S. Sound Recordings – Finally!

/ By / Copyright

We recently received information that Muthoot Broadcasting Pvt. Ltd., which owns the English music radio station – ‘Chennai Live’ 104.8, had moved the Copyright Board back in April of this year, questioning the right of PPL to collect royalties, for the public performance of U.S. sound recordings. ‘Chennai Live’ is being represented by Advocate Prathiba Singh who was one of the main attorneys for the radio stations in the mega-compulsory licencing dispute which was decided by the Copyright Board in

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Copyright Board crippled due to lack of quorum – APAA moves Delhi High Court

/ By / Copyright

The Central Government has created yet another head-banging situation for lawyers appearing before the Copyright Board. The latest cause for this being the adjournment of the Copyright Board due to lack of quorum!   Image from here. The Copyright Board which was scheduled to hear matters on the 15th of November, 2011 was unable to do so because of the lack of quorum. As per the law, the Copyright Board requires three members to be sitting on the bench in

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The bruising battle over the ‘Orchid’ trademark: From Bombay to Chennai

/ By / Trademark

The hospitality services sector in India has always had its fair share of IP litigation. One of the more recent and most interesting cases revolves around the ‘Orchid’ trademark which is being litigated before no less than 3 forums – the Bombay High Court, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) and the Registrar of Trademarks at Chennai. (Image from here) The litigation before all three forums were initiated by the Mumbai based, Kamat Hotels (India) Ltd. (KHI) against the Bangalore

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Finally, an Indian music composer gets sued for allegedly copying a foreign melody!

/ By / Copyright

In a decision that is bound to have an impact on the creative faculties of Indian music composers, Justice Manmohan Singh of the Delhi High Court on the 21st of September, 2011 acting on a copyright infringement claim, filed by Canadian singer Loreena McKennitt, has passed an ex-parte interim injunction against Deepak Dev, an awarding-winning music composer from Kerala; and the producers & distributors of the Malyalam movie ‘Urmi’. The order however is restricted to the proposed release of the

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Delhi HC dismisses Bayer’s plea against Natco’s CL

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In a short order, the Delhi High Court dismissed, as withdrawn, a writ petition filed by Bayer against the publication of Natco’s CL application by the Controller General of Patents. The same petition had been filed by Bayer before the Bombay High Court earlier this month. We blogged about it over here. The order of the Delhi High Court has been pasted before: O R D E R  16.11.2011 The petitioner impugns the order dated 11.08.2011 passed by the Controller of

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Should T-Series challenge the constitutionality of the CCI?

/ By / Competition Law, Copyright

A few weeks ago Shan had carried this interesting post on a complaint made by HT Media to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against the Super Cassettes Industries Ltd (SCIL) a.k.a. T-Series. HT Media owns several radio stations, which want to play the music owned by SCIL and both parties are unable to agree on the rate of a reasonable royalty.  The essence of the complaint, as reported by Mint (which is owned by HT Media), is that T-Series,

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Guest Post: The Lady Gaga Decision

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I’m glad to bring our readers, this excellent guest, on celebrity domain names, by Amba Kak, a fourth year law student at the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS). In this post, Amba discusses an international domain name dispute with significant repercussions for celebrity fan websites. The Lady Gaga Decision: Fan sites, legitimate interests and bad faith By Amba Kak A few months ago, the National Arbitration Forum, international adjudicatory body for domain name disputes, decided that a celebrity fan

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