Category Archives: Design

Breaking: President Promulgates Tribunal Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance 2021

by Praharsh Gour April 5, 2021

IPAB has been in the eye of the storm since its inception. While there are ardent believers of the institution (See here and here), there are equally strong arguments by the ones against it (few of them advanced by the former Chairperson of the institution itself!) (See here here and here). A few months ago, the Executive seemingly laid the debate to rest by introducing the Tribunal Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Bill 2021, proposing to scrap IPAB. However,…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (March 22 – 28)

by Nikhil Purohit March 29, 2021

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Topical Highlight Delhi HC Looks Into Access And Innovation Questions On Rare Diseases In this post, Swaraj analyses an order issued by Justice Prathiba M. Singh of the Delhi High Court with regards to patients suffering from ‘rare diseases’. The order sets out three major directives: a) requiring the government to finalize the long pending National Health Policy for Rare Diseases, b) setting up of a ‘National Consortium for Research and Development on therapeutics for Rare Diseases’, and c) setting…

Design

Lego Succeeds at EU Level for the Simplest of Reasons

by Adarsh Ramanujan March 27, 2021

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Earlier this week, the General Court of the European Union (part of the Court of Justice for the European Union or the ECJ) ruled in favour of Lego in Case T-515/19. The Board of the appeal of the EU IPO had declared Legos community design registration number 1664368-0006 corresponding to the description “building blocks for a toy building set”. The Board of the appeal of the EU IPO had overturned a decision of the EU IPO in a cancellation proceeding…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (March 15 – 21)

by Nikhil Purohit March 22, 2021

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Topical Highlight Sherlyn Chopra Case- Non-Consensual Sharing of Intimate Images/Videos, Obscenity Laws and Copyright Remedies In this post, non-consensual sharing of intimate images or videos from a copyright perspective, in light of the recent case filed against Sherlyn Chopra for sharing obscene content online. She first analyses copyrightability of obscene content. She notes decisions from Israel and England that have used grounds of immorality to deny copyright protection to works. She contrasts this with Indian copyright law where such grounds…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (March 1-7)

by Adyasha Samal March 8, 2021

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Topical Highlight BigBasket and Daily Basket Row – Confusion or Bullying? Anupriya analysed the widely reported ‘cease and desist letter’ sent by BigBasket to Daily Basket alleging infringement of their trademark on the word, ‘Basket.’ She begins by explaining how the term “basket” pretty much indicates grocery business in general. She revisits the Trade Marks Act and a number of cases discussing the spectrum of distinctiveness of a trademark and argues that while comparing marks, it is incorrect to take a…

Protection of Jewellery: A Combination of Trademark, Design and Copyright Law? – Part I

by Varsha Jhavar March 5, 2021

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The issue of IP protection of jewellery has hardly been discussed or adjudicated upon in India. Generally, it is understood that the sketch of the jewellery design can be protected as artistic work under copyright law, while the actual appearance of the jewellery, such as the configuration, pattern can be protected under design law. But, it’s more complicated than that. There are many questions without clear answers, such as, whether jewellery is protectable under copyright or design law in India,…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (January 25 – 31)

by Anupriya Dhonchak February 1, 2021

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Topical Highlight The Delhi High Court Judgement in the IPRS Case (2021) In this post, Adarsh Ramanujan analyses the Delhi High Court’s recent judgment in IPRS v. Entertainment Network (India) Ltd. The judgment has been appealed, and the Division Bench has issued notice in the matter, with the interim direction that the judgment from the Single Judge will not be treated as a precedent in other proceedings. Adarsh points to the Court’s finding that IPRS took self-contradictory legal positions in the two suits considered in the…

Design Others Patent Trademark

SpicyIP Weekly Review (December 14 – 20)

by Adyasha Samal December 21, 2020

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Topical Highlight India on TRIPS Waiver: Will WTO pass the test of humanity? Swaraj gave us an overview of India’s statement on the on-going TRIPS Waiver proposal, delivered at the WTO TRIPS General Council Meeting held from 16th-18th December, 2020. He explains that India strongly appealed to WTO’s responsibility to respond during this time of crisis and also pointed out that COVAX and ACT-accelerator were inadequate to meet global needs. India’s statement also indirectly calls out the hypocrisy in developed…

India on TRIPS Waiver: Will WTO Pass the Test of Humanity?

by Swaraj Paul Barooah December 20, 2020

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India, through its Ambassador and Permanent Representative at the WTO, delivered a short but strong statement at the WTO TRIPS General Council Meeting held between 16-18th December, 2020, on the on-going TRIPS waiver proposal. (context here for those unaware of the waiver proposal – in brief, South Africa and India proposed a waiver for the WTO TRIPS provisions that relate to, i.e., restrict, vaccines, treatment options, etc for Covid-19, for the duration of the pandemic). Pointing out that making the…

Design

Supreme Court Interprets ‘High Court’ under Section 22(4) of the Designs Act

by Varsha Jhavar December 15, 2020

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Recently, in a Special Leave Petition, the Supreme Court dealt with certain pertinent issues such as the separation between revocation of registration – in infringement suits and in cancellation actions and cause of action and interpretation of the term ‘High Court’ under the Designs Act, 2000. In S.D. Containers Indore v. Mold Tek Packaging, a division bench of the apex court provides clarity that ‘High Court’ under Section 22(4) includes a High Court that does not have ordinary original civil…

Adyasha Samal { Thank you for bringing out that point, sir. Indeed, implementing a mandatory registration system would unfairly deprive Indian authors of the rights that foreign authors would continue to... }
Jagdish Sagar { Under Article 5(2) of the Berne Convention, copyright protection in works originating in other member countries of the Berne Union cannot be subject to any formalities. If India... }
Praharsh Gour { Hey Megha, Thank you for your comments and pointers. The scenario suggested by you are exactly the same thing we have raised concern about. Seemingly the whole business... }
Megha Banerjee { The only reason that government (ICMR) does not allow other pvt. Drug manufacturing companies to manufacture may be restrictions on ICMR and other other govt. Agencies to create... }
Akshat Agrawal { Hi Adarsh. Thank you. Continuing the conversation. Okay so I think step 1 is important. Copyright exists- but on what does copyright exist? The court has many times... }