Author name: Vasundhara Majithia

Vasundhara Majithia is a fifth year student at National Law University, Jodhpur and a Senior Content Editor at the Journal of Intellectual Property Studies (JIPS). Intellectual property was introduced to her in her third year and she hasn’t quite gotten over it since. Her interests include an eclectic mix of Intellectual Property, Trade laws, Constitutional law, and commercial laws. When not frantically blogging, she can be found nose deep in fiction, researching serial killers, or cooking to escape hostel food.

SpicyIP Weekly Review (January 15-21)

/ By / Others

The topical highlight for this week was surely Rahul’s marvelous post on the judgement in PK Sen v Exxon Mobile. In his post, he notes that in the case herein, the court tested the plaintiff’s assertions as to the court’s jurisdiction based on legal principles, instead of accepting them on face value. This, he remarks, is part of a welcome trend whereby the Delhi High Court is beginning to lose its pro-plaintiff reputation. The thematic highlight for the week was …

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Injunction in AZ Tech (India) v Intex Technologies (India) Ltd. Stayed

/ By / Trademark

Three days ago, I wrote a post about the order of temporary injunction in the case of AZ Tech (India) & Anr. v Intex Technologies (India) Ltd. & Anr., where the handset giant, Intex Technologies was injuncted from using the “Aqua” trademark. This injunction was granted primarily on the grounds that AZ Tech (India) was the prior user of the mark and the use of the same trademark by Intex Technologies would cause the likelihood of confusion amongst customers. This …

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The Underdog Takes It All: AZ Tech (India) v. Intex Technologies (India) Ltd.

/ By / Trademark

Recently, the Delhi High Court temporarily injuncted the handset giant Intex Technologies from using the trademark “Aqua” based on passing off charges made by AZ Tech (India). The judgement is available here. This well-reasoned and lucid judgement is one of the few in India which deal with arbitrary marks. This is an interesting case where a much smaller company has been able to prima facie prove passing off against a leading corporation in the field. Facts The plaintiffs sought an …

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The PayMark Battle: Whose Blue is it Anyway?

/ By / Trademark

This post has been co-authored with Ritvik Kulkarni. Have you been seeing the PayTM logo everywhere? Outside every shop, every vegetable vendor and even at the local panwadi? Well, you have been diagnosed with the PDSD (Post Demonetization Stress Disorder). Fret not; mobile wallets are here to make all the stress go away! Among others, PayTM has already become frontrunner in this market, having stupendously cashed in on the Government’s drive to go cashless. Little did PayTM know that its …

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Surrogate Advertisements: The dark side of Trade marks? [Part II]

/ By / Trademark

In Part I, I looked at the definition of surrogate advertising and relevant laws pertaining to it. In this Part, I explore the role of the judiciary and the question of trademark rights vis-à-vis surrogate advertisements. Role of the Judiciary In 1999, the Voluntary Health Association of India filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court to seek a ban on the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team by the Wills brand of cigarettes manufactured by ITC. According to the PIL, the …

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Surrogate Advertisements: The dark side of Trade marks? [Part I]

/ By / Trademark

Advertisements are made for one simple reason: to portray the product in question in a good light and make it appealing and irresistible for prospective customers. Where profit is the only motive, there is no place for cold hard facts or objective truths. Whether we believe that soup powders have “the goodness of real vegetables” or that a certain telecom brand can unilaterally solve our country’s problems, we can only point fingers at advertisements for our mistaken beliefs. Advertisements have …

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First to File or First to Invent- Which system does India really follow?

/ By / Patent

The first to file (FTF) and the first to invent (FTI) systems define who shall have the right to grant of patent. Under the FTF system, the person who files for the patent for a given invention first is eligible for the grant of patent for that invention, regardless of the date of actual invention. Under the FTI system, if more than one applicant files patent applications claiming the same subject matter, the patent office institutes proceedings in order to …

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The Not-so-Exclusive “Shaadi”- Bombay High Court rules on domain names

/ By / Trademark

As shaadi season is underway (albeit less festive this year), we bring you another development in the business of the Big Fat Indian Wedding; the judgement in People Interactive (India) Pvt. Ltd. v Vivek Pahwa & Ors. This judgement pertains to a passing off dispute between shaadi.com and secondshaadi.com. It makes some rather astute observations about the nature and level of protection granted to domain names, reading down the level of protection granted by earlier cases, such as Yahoo Inc. …

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (November 27- December 3)

/ By / Others

This week’s thematic highlight is Prof. Basheer’s post on the recent proposal of the government to change the four year limit for State level drug regulatory approvals to 10 years, which some consider as a backdoor extension of data exclusivity. Here, he discusses how the effects of this proposal largely depend on the kind of data generic companies must submit. He also discusses the glaring gaps in our drug regulatory regime and the urgent need to study and understand the …

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Government contemplates a ban on foreign investment through the licensing route in the Tobacco sector

/ By / Trademark

According to reports, the Union Cabinet is considering a proposal to introduce a complete ban on all foreign investments in the tobacco sector. The Commerce and Industry Ministry has forwarded the final cabinet note for the Cabinet’s consideration, keeping in mind the views of the Health and Finance ministries. This move comes after the ban on FDI in cigarette manufacturing introduced by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs and the DIPP in 2010. This ban was considered to be one …

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