Author name: SpicyIP

The Copyright Strike as a Commercial Weapon: What Anamika Sood v. Saregama Does Not Say But Should

/ By / Copyright

What happens when copyright enforcement tools become instruments of commercial control rather than legal protection? In a significant ruling in Anamika Sood v. Google LLC & Saregama India Ltd., the Saket District Court declared independent artist Anamika Sood the rightful owner of her song “Ferrareee”, rejecting Saregama’s infringement claims over an expired copyright. But while the judgment resolves the ownership dispute, it leaves unresolved a larger structural concern: the growing misuse of automated copyright strike systems as tools of market […]

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Public Squares or Private Estates: The Delhi High Court’s Doctrinal Shift in Keyword Advertising

/ By / Trademark

In a significant ruling in Hindware v. Grohe, the Delhi High Court drew a distinction between the use of generic marks and coined, source-identifying marks like “Hindware” as keywords, while simultaneously narrowing the scope of intermediary safe harbour for platforms such as Google. The ruling builds on precedents such as Google v. DRS Logistics and Google LLC v. MakeMyTrip (India) Pvt. Ltd, where the courts have resisted treating keyword bidding as per se trademark infringement, particularly where the marks involved

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In the Aftermath of Parle: Unsettling Questions for Trade Mark Law

/ By / Trademark

What happens when trademark law privileges filing priority over marketplace reality? The Delhi High Court’s April 10 ruling in the ‘20-20’ dispute raises difficult questions about whether registration can meaningfully coexist with decade-old goodwill, and whether identical marks can survive in the market outside the framework of honest and concurrent use. In this post, Eleen Garg examines the structural tensions the decision leaves unresolved between registry formalism, consumer protection, and passing off. Eleen is a lawyer and is practicing before

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What’s in a Name? The Quintessential Misnomers That Are Untested SEPs: Thoughts on the Division Bench Judgment in Bansal v. Philips

/ By / Patent

The Delhi High Court’s recent Division Bench ruling in Bansal v. Philips Division Bench Judgment may well become one of the most consequential SEP/FRAND decisions in India so far. In an incisive post, methodically breaking down the Division Bench decision, Aniruddh Bhatia explains in detail the decision as it deals with essentiality, infringement, FRAND dance, calculation of damages, confidentiality clubs and exhaustion. Aniruddh Bhatia is an advocate at an IP-focused law firm with eight years of litigation experience, six of

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Ready, Set, Enclose? India’s Sports-IP Waiver and the Problem of Turning Play into Property

/ By / Overlaps in IP

The Government’s new fee waiver for “sports-related” IP registrations appears, at first glance, to be straightforward. But beneath the news lies a deeper question: what exactly is “Sports IP,” and what kinds of ownership, exclusivity, and control is the State choosing to subsidise through this policy? Aryan Agrawal argues that the waiver is significant not just as an innovation measure but as part of a broader movement toward the enclosure of sporting culture, fandom, and access. Aryan is a final-year

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From Blueprints to Bistro: Rethinking Culinary Creativity After Cryogas

/ By / Copyright, Design, Overlaps in IP

What happens when creativity is both functional and aesthetic at the same time? The Supreme Court’s decision in Cryogas Equipment Pvt. Ltd. v. Inox India Ltd., though rooted in industrial design law, raises a larger question about forms of expression that do not fit neatly within existing IP categories. Nidhi Jaiswal uses culinary plating as a lens to explore how copyright and design law may leave certain kinds of creative labour structurally under-protected. Nidhi is an LL.M. candidate at Rajiv

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Can the Indian Copyright Act Accommodate Fully Autonomous AI Generated Output?

/ By / Copyright

As the Delhi High Court directs the Registrar of Copyright to consider Stephen Thaler’s bid to register a fully AI-generated artwork under Indian copyright law, a deeper question emerges: was the Copyright Act ever designed to recognise non-human authorship at all? In light of this development, Rashi Singhal argues that the architecture, rationale, and core provisions of the Act remain fundamentally human-centric, making fully autonomous AI authorship difficult to accommodate within the existing framework. Rashi is a Graduate Research Fellow at

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Remembering Mr. Guruswamy “Nutty” Nataraj (1970-2026)

/ By / Others

[This post is co-authored by Swaraj and Praharsh] It’s with great sorrow that we share the news that the Indian IP fraternity lost one of its brightest stars yesterday. Mr. Guruswamy Nataraj, founder of LCGN Advocates and alumnus of NLSIU (1988-1993), renowned for his formidable patent law practice, sharp wit, infectious smile, and warm sense of humour, passed away following a heart attack, after a courageous battle with cancer over the last few months.  Mr. Nataraj (affectionately called “Nutty” by

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Copyright Enforcement in the Gaming Industry: Key Takeaways from the University of Geneva’s 2026 IP Conference from an Indian Observer’s Perspective

/ By / Copyright, Design, Overlaps in IP, Trademark

As the global gaming industry evolves far beyond entertainment into a sophisticated IP ecosystem built on software, art, music, branding, and competitive digital economies, conversations on questions of classification, cloning, and enforcement are becoming increasingly relevant. Reflecting on his experience attending the University of Geneva’s 2026 IP conference, Dhritiraj Paul Choudhary explains how jurisdictions across the world are actively rethinking copyright enforcement and classification in response to the commercial and technological realities of modern gaming, while Indian copyright jurisprudence has

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When Fashion ‘MET’ Culture: But Saving Traditional Craft Takes More Than A Red Carpet Tribute!!

/ By / Geographical Indication

The spectacle of Indian craftsmanship at this year’s Met Gala has sparked renewed conversations around cultural pride, artisanal heritage, and fashion’s global fascination with “Indian-inspired” aesthetics. But beneath the celebratory rhetoric lies a more uncomfortable reality: the same industries and personalities being praised for honouring Indian craft are often entangled in systems that marginalise the very artisans they claim to celebrate. The recurring appropriation of traditional textiles and designs raises a deeper question: are these gestures genuine acts of preservation,

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