Author name: Prateek Surisetti

Alias: Suri Net Worth: 0$. NALSAR Batch of 2019. Characteristic Features: 1. Thinks he's funny. 2. Can't shut-up about having topped in Class II. 3. Takes deep personal offence when his cricketing talent is questioned. 4. Will definitely reference his status as World#1 @ Reflex Ball (A sport he invented), within 10 minutes of conversing with him. Notable Endeavours: 1. Founder Access Fitness (Movement at NALSAR that promotes utilization of public spaces for furtherance of sport and fitness) 2. Author "Good Morning Miss Hobby" 3. Travel Photographer (Antarctica, India) Details @ www.facebook.com/prateekss Contact: [email protected]

Part IV: Trade Mark Concepts #Shapes #Hauck

/ By / Trademark

In this piece we will be dealing with some of the questions that came up in the Hauck case. The facts, once again, are pretty straightforward. Hauck wanted to register the following shape as a trade mark. Stokke opposed it on grounds of the shape being invalid. Went through a series of courts before reaching the Court of Justice. Note that the majority of the analysis comes from the opinion of the Advocate General (AG). The court constantly keeps referring to …

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Part III: Trade Mark Concepts #Shapes #Lego

/ By / Trademark

In Part II, we had dealt with the case of Koninlijke Philips v. Remington. Here, we shall deal with new problems that came up in the Lego case. The basic question is pretty straightforward: Is the shape mark produced below a valid trade mark? The Relevant Provision Council Regulation (EC) No. 40/94 of 20 December 1993 “… The following shall not be registered: … (e)       signs which consist exclusively of: (i)   …; or (ii)  the shape of goods which …

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Part II: Trade Mark Concepts #Shapes #Philips

/ By / Trademark

In Part I, we went through a basic introduction to shape trade marks. Now, let us look at at the issues raised in the case of Koninklijke Philips v. Remington.  As a result of these being European cases, our focus should be much more on the theoretical aspects, as opposed to the facts or the court’s holding. Therefore, I have endeavoured to make these posts theoretically intensive, rather than factual. Philips tried to register a 3D shape (produced below) as a trade …

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Part I: Trade Mark Concepts #Shapes #Introduction

/ By / Trademark

This month, I shall be discussing a series of European cases that deal with trade marking shapes and the associated functionality principles. This piece contains absolutely no analysis, and is only intended to lay the groundwork for the rest of the series. Before you decide to abandon going through this series on account of the European origin, allow me to remind you that the Indian statute, in this context, is very similar to its European counterparts. As a consequence of …

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (February 19-25)

/ By / Others

Thematic Highlight Apart from bringing to your notice the BHC interim injunction against Thomson press from producing copies of a translated version of the Bhagavad Gita, Inika reviews similar copyright issues over translated works and then deals with the following broader concerns: i.  When can a translation gain a copyright of its own? ii. Translations of works in the open domain iii. Translations of works for which copyright still subsists. iv. Conditions for getting permission from Copyright Board for translations. Topical …

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (January 22-28)

/ By / Others

The thematic highlight for the week is Mr. Rajiv’s overview of the legal issues that Qualcomm is facing in various jurisdictions, by virtue of its alleged anti-competetive practices, overpriced licenses and non-compliance with FRAND terms. While discussing four cases in which Qualcomm ran into legal trouble for the above mentioned reasons, he deals with the following broad areas: i. A brief breakdown of Qualcomm’s general manner of functioning. ii. Qualcomm’s Anti-competitive practices. iii. Manner of determining jurisdiction while imposing regulations. …

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (December 11-17)

/ By / Others

Our first thematic highlight is Ritvik’s fascinating piece dealing with the jamboree of artificial persons, robots and copyright. His primary discussion points were the following: i. Whether artificial persons (e.g. a company) have copyright related moral rights? ii. Views regarding copyright ownership over robot created works. iii. He concludes with his take on who should own the copyright over such works. Another thematic highlight of the week is Vasundhara’s lucid, yet insightful analysis of whether India’s patent regime follows a ‘first …

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (October 30-November 5)

/ By / Others

As a result of a large output on the blog in the past week, I have the difficult task of choosing highlights. In my humble opinion, there are multiple posts which are worthy of your attention. Nevertheless, I shall pick a few as highlights. The thematic highlights of the piece are Prof. Basheer and Dr. Arul’s pieces on the relationship between the industry and the academia. In a lucid two part post (here and here), Prof. Basheer, while evaluating the …

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The “Stellar” Case (DHC) – Copyright and Confidential Information

/ By / Copyright

M/S Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. v. Rajesh Kumar and Ors. deals with two areas: 1. Copyrightability of compilations. 2. Extent to which a contract can determine the boundaries of “Confidential Information”. But before we get to these questions, let us get acquainted with the facts. Relevant Facts The defendants were former employees of the plaintiff. The defendants left the Plaintiff and set up their own company. The defendants’ company works in the same field as the plaintiff’s i.e. Data Security. …

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Justice Patel’s Order (GoAir Against Google & Indigo) & the Propriety of Judicial Humour

/ By / Others

Judges seem to be conspiring to amplify the extent of misery affiliated with my life. As I slave upon their convoluted novellas, I can almost imagine them leaning back upon their high chairs in some remote dungeon, mirthfully rubbing their hands together, while cackling away in glee. So, whenever I am allotted a Justice Patel judgment, to put it subtly, I am quite pleased. Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration. This is probably a more apt representation of …

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