UK Courts set aside £100,000 judgment against Indian law firm in professional negligence suit

/ By / Patent

In early 2013, Prashant had reported a default judgment of 100,000 pounds entered into by the London High Court against Fox Mandal in a suit filed by one of its former clients for professional negligence in a patent prosecution that had been handled by the firm. As reported by Bar & Bench, this verdict has now been set aside by the High Court itself and the Court of Appeal, England, this month, has refused permission for leave to appeal on […]

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A flowery matter: Madras HC on the Orchid trademark dispute

/ By / Trademark

Background Litigation over the ‘orchid’ trademark between Kamat Hotels and The Royal Orchid Hotels  (‘ROH’) continues. This dispute has been covered by Prashant here and here. After losing at the IPAB, Kamat Hotels filed two writ petitions before the Madras HC. Without using flowery words, the Madras HC dismissed these petitions. Though this was a ‘writ petition’ filed under Article 226, it reads more like an appeal. As we know, Article 226 is an extraordinary remedy intended to be applied in exceptional

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Guest Post: A look at Software Patents – II

/ By / Patent

Punam Kadam continues her two part blog post here. You can view the first part of her post here. [You can also view our previous related posts here (Shamnad’s comments on the guidelines) and here (Aparajita’s post highlighting the feedback received on the draft IPO Guidelines)] A look at Software Patents – II Continuing from my previous post that looked at the patentability of software in various jurisdictions in the light of the distressing reactions from Software industry associations, this post seeks to anatomize the inadequacies

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Guest Post: A look at Software Patents – I

/ By / Patent

In this 2 part guest post, Punam Kadam takes a look at software patents by first examining basic principles and international treatment of software patents, and then goes on in her second post to suggest that the IPO has erroneously used some key terms in their draft guidelines. Punam Kadam is a research professional who has worked in Pharma and Agrochemicals Industry and currently working as a Patent Associate at Inttl Advocare. The views expressed are her personal views and

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Copyright to Effect Censorship?

/ By / Copyright

IPKat recently carried a post reporting that Spain was contemplating introducing an amendment in their laws to allow for press publishers to monetize their content for a fixed period of time. This might seem like an alarming development (more on that later on in the blog post) but IPKat reports that this has been tried by a number of other countries as well. These are Germany, Italy, Belgium and even France. We have reported earlier on this blog about the

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‘Brahmos’ is a well-known Trademark: Delhi HC in Brahmos Aerospace Pvt Ltd v. FIITJEE Ltd. and Anr

/ By / Trademark

The High Court of Delhi, on February 24th, granted an interim injunction in favour of ‘Brahmos Aerospace Ltd’ restraining FIIT JEE, an institute that offers training for competitive exams from using the name ‘Brahmos’. The decision was granted in Brahmos Aerospace’s favour mainly on the ground that Brahmos is a “Well-Known Trademark” and can therefore be protected even in relation to dissimilar services, under S.29(4) of the Trademarks Act. The Facts Brahmos Aerospace Pvt Ltd is a Government Company set

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FRANDly Wars at Delhi HC: Ericsson cries foul play against Intex; CCI barred from adjudicating the dispute

/ By / Competition Law, Patent

In 2013, Intex filed a complaint against Ericsson with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) alleging abuse of dominance by the Ericsson whilst negotiating a Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) licensing agreement. Intex, an Indian mobile handset maker complained that the terms of the agreement were highly unfair and discriminatory, and in particular claimed that the royalty rates demanded by Ericsson were extremely high. The CCI made a prima facie determination of abuse of dominant position and ordered an investigation under Section 26

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IPAB snubs Assistant Controller of Patents, sets aside Pre-Grant Opposition Order against Abraxis

/ By / Patent

The IPAB has recently come up with a decision that calls into question the reasoning behind an order given by the Assistant Controller of Patents & Designs allowing a pre-grant opposition against an application for a pharmaceutical patent. Details of the case are provided below. While the merits of the patent application or the opposition posed thereto had not been discussed in this case, yet given the manner in which and the grounds on which the Assistant Controller’s decision seems

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Producers of ‘Youngistan’ accused of infringement

/ By / Copyright

  According to Bollywood Hungama, PepsiCo. sent a legal notice to the producers of the upcoming movie ‘Youngistan’ alleging copyright infringement of its tagline – “Yeh Hai Youngistan Meri Jaan”.  Livemint, in its report dated 20 February 2014, stated that PepsiCo had now moved court claiming trademark violation. According to the report, PepsiCo sought a permanent injunction against the release of the movie, which is expected to hit theatres on 28 March 2014. Also, the matter has been listed for

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