Design

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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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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After Crocs, After Carlsberg: Does Harpic v. Spic Finally Clear the Air?

/ By / Design, Trademark

Can trademark law be used to reclaim what design law has deliberately released into the public domain? Khushi Krishania writes on the Calcutta High Court’s recent Division Bench decision in the Harpic v. Spic dispute, explaining how it revisits this uneasy intersection, but ultimately leaves its most difficult questions unresolved.  Khushi is a third-year B.Sc. LL.B. (Hons.) {Cybersecurity} student at the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, with a particular interest in the intersection of copyright and data protection law. After Crocs,

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (March 30 – April 5)

/ By / Copyright, Design, Others, Patent, Trademark

Beginning April with a rundown of the major IP developments in 2025 on SpicyIP TV! Post on two recent Delhi High Court decisions in Geron and Hirotsu clarifying the boundaries of diagnostic methods exclusion. And another post on the UK Supreme Court’s decision in Emotional Perception AI Limited v Comptroller General of Patents marking a doctrinal shift in how subject-matter eligibility questions regarding computer programmes are evaluated. Case summaries and IP developments from the country and the globe and much

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The GUI Verdict: A Celebration of Progress, or a Lament for Leadership?

/ By / Design

The Calcutta High Court’s decision in NEC Corporation marks a significant step forward for GUI design protection in India. However, beyond the celebration surrounding this development, Sachin Sharma points out that a more uncomfortable question remains—why did it take judicial intervention for this shift to occur at all? Sachin is an Associate Advocate at Sanghi & Co. An alumnus of NLU Delhi (LLM in IPR Law and Management), he is currently advancing his technical acumen through a BSc in Biotechnology.

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (March 23 – March 29)

/ By / Copyright, Design, Others, Patent, Trademark

Almost at the end of March with a post on the wonder drug Semaglutide’s patent expiry and its impact in India. Post on the Calcutta HC’s judgment removing subject-matter objections to the registration of GUIs as a design under the Designs Act. Another post on the government-led blocking of 3100+ Telegram channels marking a significant shift in India’s intermediary liability regime and censorship architecture. Case summaries and IP developments from the country and the globe and much more in this

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GUIs Join the Design Club!

/ By / Design

Disclaimer: Used Claude AI to make stylistic changes to the post. Any mistakes made are all mine alone. Calcutta High Court’s recent decision in  NEC Corporation v. Controller (NEC Corp) opens up the option of design protection for Graphic User Interface (GUI) dismissing for the second time the subject matter objections raised by the IPO. The decision to expand design protection to GUIs, as we will see, creates doctrinal inconsistency, as the Delhi HC in two decisions (Hulm Entertainment and

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (March 9 – March 15)

/ By / Copyright, Design, Others, Patent, Trademark

Midway through March, we approach the colourful spring with a post on Pantone’s latest choice for its annual colour of the year! Another post on understanding fair dealing as a component of the copyright system and not the central axis. Can the Patent Office reject a patent application on one ground and decline to analyse the rest in the name of efficiency? Post discussing Bombay High Court’s ruling in JFE Steel Corporation v. Controller of Patents & Designs. Case summaries

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (February 2 – February 8)

/ By / Copyright, Design, Others, Patent, Trademark

Into the second week of February, with formal comments from our bloggers on the DPIIT’s proposed “One Nation One License One Payment” framework for GenAI and Copyright. A post on an industrial drama written in 1847 bursting the myth of the free-market society, and another post on the recent concept note by the DPIIT proposing reforms to India’s design law. Case summaries and IP developments from the country and the globe in this week’s SpicyIP Weekly Review. Anything we are

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Design Law Reforms: Searching for Justifications

/ By / Design

Long post ahead! DPIIT on 23rd January 2026 had put out a concept note titled “Proposed Amendments to the Designs Act, 2000” and has invited comments from stakeholders, with the last day for submitting comments being 22nd February 2026. Some reforms are substantive, affecting the scope of design law. While others are administrative, intended to smooth out the difficulties that design applicants face. This post would be a quick analysis of some of the reforms being suggested. The reforms I

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