Category Archives: Others

Design Others Patent Trademark

SpicyIP Weekly Review (August 10 – 16)

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Topical Highlights Breaking News: Controller General’s Office Agrees with Our Petition for Scrapping the Intellectual Property Appellate Board In this post, Prashant reports on a petition he had submitted to the Ministry of Commerce along with Rahul Bajaj, asking it to consider shutting down the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (‘IPAB’). As seen from a file-noting of the Ministry accessed through RTI, the office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks has agreed with most of their contentions. Prashant…


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Others

Breaking News: Controller General’s Office Agrees with Our Petition for Scrapping the Intellectual Property Appellate Board

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A few months ago, in May, I had sent a petition to the Ministry of Commerce, along with Rahul Bajaj, asking it to consider shutting down the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB). We had argued that not only was the IPAB non-functional for a long time but it was also poorly designed, especially with regard to the post of the ‘technical member’. Rather than continuing with this broken model, we recommended that the existing functions of the IPAB be shifted…


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Copyright Innovation Others Patent Trademark

SpicyIP Weekly Review (August 3 – 9)

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Topical Highlight Curious Case of Coronil: Madras HC Restrains Patanjali from Using Trademark ‘Coronil’ for Its Immunity Booster Tablet In this post, Arun examines the Madras High Court’s recent order injuncting Patanjali from using the trademark ‘Coronil’ and appreciates its lucid interpretation of Section 29(4) of the Trade Marks Act. The plaintiff argued that defendant’s use of the mark would dilute its reputation due to the perceived inefficacy of the product and the accompanying negative press. The Court held that…


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Others Trademark

Budweiser’s Trademark Infringement and Disparagement Claim: Nipping Satire in the Bud?

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Budweiser recently filed a suit before the Delhi High Court against the defendants on grounds such as infringement of its trademark, unfair competition and commercial disparagement, and dilution and tarnishment of its goodwill and reputation. In an ex parte proceeding, the court held in Budweiser’s favour finding a prima facie ‘infringement of plaintiff’s registered mark ‘Budweiser’ and also amounting to commercial disparagement of the plaintiff’s products’. In this piece, I dissect this interim order and argue that it is completely…


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Competition Law Innovation Others Trademark

Ritter Sport Wins Trademark for Square Chocolates: Bitter Consequences of Trademark Maximalism

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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…


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Copyright Geographical Indication Others Patent Trademark

SpicyIP Weekly Review (July 27 – August 2)

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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…


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Copyright Others

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

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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 –…


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Copyright Others

Functionality in Copyright Law : In the light of a recent EU Case Law

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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 India’s 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…


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Copyright Others Patent Trademark

SpicyIP Weekly Review (July 20 – 26)

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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…


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Copyright Geographical Indication Innovation Others Patent Trademark

SpicyIP Weekly Review (July 13 – 19)

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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…


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