Author name: Rishabh Mohnot

This month, we received the tragic news of the passing away of our Founder and Chief Mentor, Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer. He touched the lives of all of us here at SpicyIP in innumerable ways and always encouraged us with our work at the blog on a day-to-day basis. His loss cannot be put into words, but we hope to honour his legacy by continuing the good work he started with SpicyIP. See the tribute penned for our blog by […]

We have had a gargantuan week at SpicyIP, with plenty of content on recent decisions around courts, and updates from the Sustainable Seed Innovations Project. Below is a summary of the week gone by: Topical Highlight In a guest post, Swaroop Mamidipudi wrote on twin decisions of the Delhi High Court that expand the scope of protection of cinematograph films. Prior to this decision, it was understood that copyright in cinematograph films could only be infringed if a physical copy

We had an extremely busy week at SpicyIP! Here’s the roundup: Topical Highlight In a guest post, Prashant Reddy wrote a piece on the Delhi HC’s decision to allow the current Chairman and Technical Expert for Plant Varieties to hear disputes in all matters, including patents, trademarks, etc. It has also declared that all orders passed by the IPAB without quorum are proper. Prashant argues that the judgment ignores the provisions of the Trade Marks Act, and makes a mockery

Thematic Highlight In a guest post, Dr Sunanda Bharti shared her views on sarees as a subject matter of intellectual property rights. Specifically, she argues that the methods of draping sarees can be protected as Traditional Cultural Expression. She notes that the use of these methods would constitute misappropriation if used commercially or in a manner that offends the culture. Further, she posits that these rights may be implemented through the Domaine Public Payant method, where the government collects revenue

In a guest post, Arun Mohan shared his thoughts on the recent Ilayaraja judgment passed by the Madras High Court. He notes that the judgment consolidates producers’ rights over sound recordings that incorporate musical works that are created prior to and post the 2012 amendments. The judgment does, however, pay heed to the composers’ moral rights to paternity and integrity. Pankhuri wrote a post on the developments from the order passed by the Delhi HC in the patent working PIL

I wrote a post on the Delhi HC’s recent order and circular that seek to prevent the practice of ‘defendant masking’. The order and circular prescribe stricter checks by the registry and an undertaking from the plaintiff suggesting that the defendant arraigned as Defendant Number 1 is the main contesting defendant. Other Developments Indian Judgments International Cycle Gears v. The Controller of Patents and Designs and Others – Calcutta High Court [May 10, 2019] The Appellant filed an appeal against the