Trade Marks Official in CBI net

/ By / Trademark

Prof. Shamnad Basheer had already covered the arrest of ND Kasturi, Deputy Registrar of Trademarks by CBI officials [available here ]. SPICY IP is now given to believe that “Manjal” file is one amongst the ten odd files files taken from Mrs. Kasturi’s office by CBI for further investigation. [ For our posts on “Manjal” issue, see here, here & here. ] Times of India reported the arrest a day after, available here. This post is a summary of that […]

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March 2nd marks aggravated protests against FTA

/ By / Data Exclusivity

While the government continues to march on with the EU-India FTA, protester’s have also continued to voice their concerns over the impact that the IP provisions of the draft Agreement will have on making medicines inaccessible. March 2nd marked a day of protest by health activists from across India including PLHIV Networks and Network of People who use Drugs, as well as activists from affected countries such as Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines who came to New Delhi to voice their concerns

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Breaking News: CBI Raids Trademark Registrar’s House

/ By / Trademark

Even as this message is being typed out, the home of ND Kasturi, Deputy Registrar of Trademarks is being raided by officials from the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation). These government sleuths are also simultaneously inspecting her office room (and files) at the Patent and Trademark Office, Chennai. Allegations of corruption have dogged this Registrar for as long as I can remember. Once this raid completes, we’ll know if there was any truth to these long standing allegations. Kasturi featured

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ICC-Cricket World Cup and IP Enforcement

/ By / Copyright, Trademark

Just on the back of the exciting India-England tie, we have an interesting cricket-related IP tidbit. There’s absolutely no doubt that the International Cricket Council (“ICC”) takes it intellectual property very seriously, given that the captain of the Indian team himself was rebuked for ‘ambush marketing’, in violation of the guidelines for endorsements and commercials issued by it, just before the World Cup. So it came as no surprise when we received an anonymous tip this morning about a cease

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Punitive damages in IP cases are here to stay: Proctor and Gamble v. Joy Creators

/ By / Trademark

The case stands out owing to the importance given by the plaintiffs to levying punitive damages on the defendants. This is a marked departure from the importance given to injunctions especially temporary injunctions in recent times in intellectual property litigation. Intellectual property litigation in India is mostly confined to proceedings for temporary litigation. Once a temporary injunction is obtained, plaintiffs often abandon the litigation. We had previously posted on a talk by Justice Arjan Sikri on the same. We had

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Demise of Dr Vidya Sagar, Indian IP Legend

/ By / Uncategorized

With great sadness, we bring you news of the demise of Dr. Vidya Sagar, Senior Partner at Remfry & Sagar and doyen of Indian IP. He was 85 and passed away last afternoon. In many ways, he was the father of Indian IP, having built up one of the foremost IP law firms in the country, after having taken it over in 1973. Most of the leading IP professionals today were trained by Dr Sagar during their stint at Remfry

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The (Copyright) Remainders of the Day

/ By / Copyright

In the recent past, section 2(m) of the copyright amendment bill dealing with parallel imports has provoked a great deal of controversy. I reflect on this controversy in an opinion piece in the Mint and argue that the reasons offered by publishers for killing this provision are unconvincing. Thomas Abraham’s first piece titled “The Death of Books” that sparked off the debate is here. Rahul Mathan countered this doomsday prediction here. Pranesh’s elaborate views (including an exchange with Thomas Abraham

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More IPRS golmaal?; Minutes of 37th Annual AGM revealed

/ By / Copyright

After much effort we’ve finally laid our hands on the minutes of the controversial 37th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS). This meeting was conducted on the 5th of January, 2008 and this was the meeting which completely amended the ‘Articles of Association’ governing the internal functioning of IPRS. The new ‘articles’ basically guaranteed that IPRS was controlled by a group of 8-9 ‘Big Music Companies’. Once IPRS was under control of these ‘big music

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MANJAL REMOVED FROM TRADEMARK REGISTRY – II

/ By / Trademark

In my earlier post, I had discussed the Order dated 21st January, 2011 which removed “Manjal” from the trade marks registry. “Manjal” is the Malayalam / Tamil translation for turmeric / haldi (in Hindi). The mark was registered by M/s Oriental Extractions Pvt. Ltd (hereinafter Oriental Extractions) in Class – 3 for “ayurvedic bath soap”. The rectification application was filed by Mr. S. Sivasubramanyan, Proprietor of M/s Divine Pharmaceuticals, Kollam before Deputy Registrar of Trade Marks. The Order noted that

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The Broadcast of World Cup Cricket matches and the SBS Act, 2007 – Did the Delhi HC get it right?

/ By / Copyright

The BS has carried a story on how the Delhi High Court has granted ‘John Doe’ interim injunction orders restraining 144 defendants from infringing on ESPN’s broadcasting rights in the ICC Cricket World Cup, 2011 since ESPN has bought the broadcast rights for the same. The Delhi High Court has also reportedly extended the injunction to un-named cable-operators who may be discovered during the course of the World Cup. The Delhi High Court has passed such order earlier in the

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