Weekly Review (10th-16th February, 2014)

/ By / Others

This week saw SpicyIP cover a wide array of topics. It began with Aparajita discussing in two different posts, Indian submissions made to the U.S. International Trade Commission’s decision to investigate India’s trade, investment and industrial policies and how it affects the U.S. Economy. The first post covered the submissions made by Professor Srividhya Ragavan (University of Oklahoma College of Law), Brook Baker (Northeastern University School of Law), and Sean Flynn (American University Washington College of Law) on issues pertaining to […]

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WAKE UP: IT IS COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT!

/ By / Copyright

A recent Lay’s commercial starring Ranbir Kapoor has caught my fancy; Lay’s newest ad campaign is titled ‘Lay’s Best Buddies’ and the storyline of the commercials revolve around the “loveable rascal ‘Sid’” who was the protagonist of the 2009 film ‘Wake Up Sid!’ While the ad successfully captured the essence of the campaign, it got me thinking along the lines of whether this kind of advertisement strategy which is built around characters popularized in films, may inadvertently be infringing copyright.

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Was ‘Dumb Starbucks’ a Dumb Idea?

/ By / Copyright, Trademark

Last weekend, residents and tourists in Los Angeles were surprised to see a new coffee shop called “Dumb Starbucks”. The logo of the store was an exact replica of the Starbucks logo, except with the prefix ‘Dumb’. The interiors and menu were done up in a way similar to Starbucks, too. The only difference was that everything on offer at Dumb Starbucks, was for free. The store became an instant rage on Social Media, and in a rather anti-climatic ending,

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To Endorse or Not to Endorse

/ By / Copyright, Trademark

‘To endorse or not to endorse’- actors will now find themselves grappling with this question the next time they sign an endorsement contract. This is because the Central Consumer Protection Council (CCPC), the apex body for consumer protection in India, has now decided to hold actors accountable in cases of false claims made in advertisements for products which they endorse. This means that a consumer can now claim compensation for false claims, made in respect of a product, not only

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Registering Trade Marks Abroad Made Easy: Indian Government Releases Guidelines for Functioning Under the Madrid Protocol

/ By / Trademark

Earlier last year, SpicyIP had reported that India officially joined the International Trademark System by depositing its instrument of accession to the Madrid Protocol. Prior to India’s accession, there was much debate and discussion regarding the amendments to be made to the Trademarks Act and rules, in order to give effect to the provisions of the Madrid System. Posts on the history of the Trademarks Amendment Act, 2010 and the debates surrounding the same can be found here, here, here

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Guest Post: It’s time for Real Action, Jackson

/ By / Trademark

Shashank Mangal, a 4th year student from ILS, Pune, brings us a newsy tidbit relating to a Hollywood-Bollywood movie title clash. It’s time for Real Action, Jackson Warner Bros. has sent a legal notice to Baba Films asking them to change the title of their forthcoming movie ‘Action Jackson’ as its use will lead to infringement of their trademark which it claims is also valid in the sub-continent…. On February 4, 2014, Warner Bros. sent a legal notice (click here)

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Guest Post: Copyright – shield or sword against “revenge porn”

/ By / Copyright, Privacy

With the ever-increasing pervasiveness of technology into our lives, the law is often left lagging behind in terms of how it can deal with resultant issues. In this post, Sadhvi Sood, a 3rd year student from NUJS, examines whether copyright law can deal with one such issue – ‘revenge porn’. Copyright – shield or sword against “revenge porn” The recent phenomenon of “revenge porn” over the internet is representative of the conundrum that can be created when technological developments are

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Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance Submission to the USITC

/ By / Innovation, Patent

The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance has made a pre-hearing statement before the USITC with regard to its Indian investigation. The hearing is scheduled for 12 and 13 February 2014. In its letter requesting the USITC to initiate an investigation into India’s trade policies, the Senate and House Committees asked the Commission to prepare a summary of U.S. firms’ perceptions on Indian investment and trade policies. The Committees also said that they did not expect the Commission to make findings regarding the

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EBC granted injunction against Lexis Nexis and Thomson Reuters for infringement of their copyright

/ By / Copyright

(This post has been edited for clarification. The earlier post stated that EBC had received an injunction against Thomson Reuters ‘yet again’. To clarify that there isn’t a separate injunction that Thomson Reuters received, this post has been edited to state that it was the earlier ex-parte injunction that has been confirmed.) The District Judge of Lucknow, in January 2014 has confirmed an ex parte injunction order in favour of EBC against Reed Elsevier Corporation for infringing on EBC’s copyright in

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Weekly Review (2-8 Feb, 2014)

/ By / Others

The past week was a fairly interesting week in the world of IP and we carried a number of posts reporting some of these developments. The first post of the week was a post by one of our new Fellows – Spadika where she reported on the National Program on Technology Enhanced Learning (“NPTEL”), a program similar to the MIT Open Course Ware, which provides online courseware for students to bridge the oft complained about gap in qualifications of faculty

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