Author name: Tanishka Goswami

Tanishka Goswami is a lawyer with a strong interest in IP laws, innovation and policy. She is an Analyst & part of the Podcast Team at SpicyIP and graduated from National Law University, Delhi in 2023. She may be contacted at [email protected].

SpicyIP Tidbit: Caution! Trade Marks Protection through Online Service Providers

/ By / Others, Trademark

Through a public notice issued on January 7, 2026, the Office of the Controller General Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (“CGPDTM”) cautioned popular online registration services including “makeinindia.com”, “cleartax.in”, “startupwala.com” against advertising and solicitation of prospective applicants or clients through digital and online platforms. These entities reach out to stakeholders, offering assistance in trademark registration (brand names, logos, slogans, icons, etc.) through online services. The CGPDTM clarified that the abovementioned entities are neither “Registered Trade Mark Agents” nor “Advocates” under […]

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The Scent of the Sumitomo Trademark: What is the Celebration About?

/ By / Trademark

For the first time in Indian trademark history, an olfactory mark has been registered for rose-like smelling tyres. An application filed by Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (“Sumitomo”/ “the Applicant”) seeking registration of a trademark “Floral Fragrance/ Smell Reminiscent of Roses as Applied to Tyres” on a “proposed to be used basis” was accepted by the Trade Marks Registry in India last week. Interestingly, the application was also the first olfactory trademark registration in the UK back in 1996. As a

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SpicyIP Tidbit: “GLC Law and Lore” – Justice Gautam Patel’s Powerful Call

/ By / Others, Trademark

In a highly infuriated and impassioned letter highlighted by Bar and Bench, (Retd.) Justice Gautam Patel of the Bombay High Court lambasted a public notice (dated July 31, 2025) issued by Dr. Asmita Vaidya, Principal of Government Law College (‘GLC’), Mumbai. This notice targeted “GLC Law and Lore”, an initiative led by GLC graduates that entails conversations with the institute’s alumni and students to address mentorship needs, share practical legal knowledge, and so on. To that end, the channel has

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GI Protection in High Spirits in the Chile-Peru Pisco Saga

/ By / Geographical Indication, Others

Times are spicy for GI cases! After the Prada-Kolhapuri Chappal GI fiasco, we present to you, the Delhi High Court’s (“the Court”) judgment in Asociacion De Productores De Pisco A.G vs Union of India. At the centre here is Pisco, a popular grape brandy produced using unique methods in Chile and Peru for over five centuries. The challenge was brought by an association of Chilean Pisco producers, to an order passed by the IPAB in November 2018 in favor of

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The Devil Wears Kolhapuri or Prada? Understanding GI Law, Cultural Appropriation & More

/ By / Geographical Indication, Others

This article has been co-authored with Shikhar Aggarwal, a lawyer based in Delhi. The recently unveiled Prada Spring/Summer 2026 collection made headlines in India for all the wrong reasons. While “plagiarism” in fashion is not uncommon domestically and internationally, this instance brought focus to a GI-tagged product – the humble Kolhapuri Chappals. Traditionally handcrafted with a unique toe-loop design, Kolhapuri Chappals are sold by footwear shops across India for as low as Rs.100-200 per pair. They are produced in the

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Not “Well-Known” Enough? What the Bombay HC’s Decision On TikTok Tells Us About Well-Known Marks

/ By / Others, Trademark

Banned in June 2020 on the grounds of national security, popular short-form video-sharing platform TikTok is no stranger to controversy in India. Continuing this saga, last week, the Bombay High Court (“the Court”) denied recognition to the registered trademark “TikTok” as a “well-known mark” (under Rule 124, Trademark Rules, 2017). Defined in Section 2(zg) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 (“the Act”), a “well-known trade mark” in relation to any goods or services, refers to a mark that has become

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SpicyIP Tidbit: Constitutional Challenge to Rule 29(4), Copyright Rules Rejected by the SC

/ By / Copyright, Others

In Next Radio Ltd. & Anr. v Union of India (SLP (C) No. 14373/2022), the Supreme Court (“SC”) has “disposed of as withdrawn”, a challenge to the constitutionality of Rule 29(4), Copyright Rules, 2013. The Petitioners sought permission to withdraw the Special Leave Petition, in light of an order passed by the Delhi HC in March 2024 in Super Cassettes Industries Pvt. Ltd. v Music Broadcast Ltd. (The order of the Delhi HC is discussed below). Rule 29 in Chapter

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Copyright Strikes? ANI-time! Disappearing Free Speech in the Copyright and Broadcasting World

/ By / Copyright, Others

Of late, private news agency Asian News International (“ANI”) has established its presence in the realm of copyright litigation through its involvement in the OpenAI case (discussed here). The instant case, however, throws open the Pandora’s box, and takes the discussion beyond proprietary rights to Constitutional freedoms. Earlier highlighted by the Reporters’ Collective, and now by a viral video uploaded by YouTuber Mohak Mangal (with more than 6 million views as of 30 May 2025), an aggressive ANI business strategy

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Looking Beyond the Numbers: What does the 2023-24 IP India Annual Report Say on Patents?

/ By / Patent

The 2023-24 IP India Annual Report was released on 31st March, almost a year after the end of the financial year 2023-24. While the Annual Reports bring forth critical statistics surrounding the filing, examination, and disposal of IP applications, they are rarely comprehensive in their qualitative evaluation of the data. At SpicyIP, we take our job of “de-coding Indian IP law” seriously and look beyond the numbers rather enthusiastically! Compiled in an inaccessible format where a reader cannot even search

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Finding the Real “Burger King”: Identical Marks & Prior Use in the Pune Eatery Case

/ By / Trademark

Who doesn’t love burgers? While burgers in the trademark case Burger King Co. v Anahita & Shapoor Irani excite us for the spicy IP discussions involved, courts in India also seem to express their love for whoppers by taking more than 14 years to settle the dispute. Last week, the Supreme Court bench comprising Hon’ble Justices BV Nagarathna and SC Sharma stayed an order of the Bombay High Court restraining a Pune-based eatery named “Burger King” (“petitioner”) from using its

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