Category Archives: Others

In a surprising ruling by the Federal Supreme Court of Germany (BGH) recently, well known German chocolate brand, Ritter Sport (“Ritter”) won exclusive rights to square packaging for its chocolates. The Court rejected the appeal by competitor Milka, a Swiss chocolate company that had been trying for almost a decade to challenge Ritter’s trademark protection for shape. Decision and Reasoning The Judges held that the square shape of the bar was not functional as it did not add any essential…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (July 27 – August 2)

by Adyasha Samal August 3, 2020

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Topical Highlight What’s in a Stream? The Confounding Case of IPRS’s Live-Streaming Tariffs Divij wrote about the confusion created by Indian Performing Rights Society’s newly released tariff scheme for live streaming of online events and live/disc-jockey performances. He first discusses the problems with the scope of the notice which defines ‘live performance’ as music by performers in person, and disc jockeys as playing of a sound recording. He then explains the lack of clarity as to whether digital streaming of…

Announcing the Winners of the 1st Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition on IP Law!

by SpicyIP August 3, 2020

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On May 14, 2020, on the occasion of Shamnad‘s 44th birth anniversary we had announced the first edition of the Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition on Intellectual Property Law. We opened the topic selection out to participants – asking them to choose any topic they wanted so long as it related to IP. And encouraged participants to draw inspiration from Shamnad’s scholarship. Despite being announced in the middle of a pandemic, the response to the essay competition has been overwhelming –…

Trade Secrets Protection and Incentives to Innovate: Scrutinizing Section 91 of The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019

by SpicyIP July 30, 2020

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We are pleased to bring you a guest post by Sahaja Burde, on the ongoing regulatory efforts surrounding ‘non-personal data’. Sahaja is a 3rd year student at ILS College, Pune. In this post, Sahaja examines the provisions of the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 dealing with non-personal data and their interplay with copyright and trade secret law in India. Trade Secrets Protection and Incentives to Innovate: Scrutinizing Section 91 of The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 Sahaja Burde Introduction…

Functionality in Copyright Law : CJEU Decision in Brompton Bicycles

by Mathews P. George July 29, 2020

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In this post, I would like to discuss a recent judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Brompton Bicycle (C-833/18). This judgment is relevant in the context of Section 52(1)(w) of the Copyright Act which provides as follows: “The following acts shall not constitute an infringement of copyright, namely:- (w) the making of a three-dimensional object from a two-dimensional artistic work, such as a technical drawing, for the purposes of industrial application of any purely…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (July 20 – 26)

by Namratha Murugeshan July 27, 2020

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Topical Highlight Does JioMeet’s GUI Infringe Copyright in Zoom’s Software? Nikhil wrote about the controversy of JioMeet’s GUI infringing Zoom’s software. Addressing the controversy that ensued after JioMeet was released, the issue of non-literal copying of computer software is examined. Nikhil explores the primary considerations that courts would need to address on the issue and the possible outcomes. First, the copyrightability of Zoom’s GUI is analyzed under Section 2(o) and Section 2(ffc) of the Copyright Act. Then, the particular elements…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (July 13 – 19)

by Anupriya Dhonchak July 20, 2020

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Topical Highlight Bombay HC Clarifies Nature of Reliefs Applicable in Cybersquatting Disputes Divij wrote a post about a refreshing order and judgment delivered by the Bombay High Court recently in the case of Hindustan Unilever v. Endurance Domain and Ors. The Court held that the finding of cybersquatting and fraudulent behaviour was uncontroversial but HUL’s prayer to direct domain name registrars “to suspend and ensure the continued suspension of and block access to (…) Fraudulent Domain Name(s)” could not be granted. This conclusion…

Others Traditional Knowledge

Cornrows and Cultural Appropriation: What is the Best Way to Protect Black Hairstyles?

by SpicyIP July 16, 2020

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We’re pleased to bring to you another guest post by our fellowship applicant Adyasha Samal, discussing the problems with the approach of protecting traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) under existing IP regimes, using hairstyles as an example of a widely appropriated TCE. Adyasha is a 4th year student at Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur. This is her second submission for the Fellowship. Her previous guest post can be viewed here. Cornrows and Cultural Appropriation: What is the Best Way to…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (July 6 – 12)

by Namratha Murugeshan July 13, 2020

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Topical Highlight Telegram Copyright Infringement Case: India’s Chance to Seek Inspiration from Foreign Principles In a guest post, Abhishek Iyer discussed the issue of intermediary liability in light of the Telegram copyright infringement case. The post first discusses the burden of knowledge with respect to e-notices to understand Telegram’s liability given the requirement of ‘specific and actual knowledge’ of intermediaries with respect to infringement of copyrighted material. The doctrine of inducement used in US Courts is discussed to determine Telegram’s…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (June 29 – July 5)

by SpicyIP July 6, 2020

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[This post has been authored by Rishabh Joshi, a 4th year student at Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), Gandhinagar.] Topical Highlights Nationalism, Drugs and Public Interest – Remdesivir and Beyond Swaraj highlights how nationalism can hinder public health in light of the ‘drug hoarding’ (Remdesivir) by the United States. He first starts by talking about how Remdesivir is not the most effective treatment for the COVID-19 virus as the improvement rate is not so high. He briefly discusses the intermingling…