The Trade Marks Registry (TMR) issued a public notice requesting suggestions from stakeholders regarding the display and availability of documents on its official website (comments are to be submitted by September 30, 2019). It appears that the TMR has received representations from stakeholders raising concerns regarding the display of confidential information, proprietary information and personal information on its website. The TMR is now proposing to classify documents into two categories on its website: One category that will consist of documents…

Others

40 Days: Remembering and Celebrating Prof. Shamnad Basheer

by Divij Joshi September 22, 2019

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In several traditions, including those followed by Prof. Shamnad Basheer’s family, the 40th day after passing is a day of remembrance and marks the end of a mourning period. As posts, tributes and celebrations of Prof. Basheer’s life and work have poured in, some of the current and past team members of SpicyIP have written fond remembrances and eulogies, which we are publishing here today. Balu Nair “The last 40 days have made me realize that some wounds are too…

Geographical Indication

Banglar Rasogolla v. Odisha Rasagola: Deciphering the Real Win

by Pankhuri Agarwal September 20, 2019

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We’re pleased to bring to you an interesting guest post by Jupi Gogoi on the ongoing dispute between West Bengal and Orissa over the GI tag for rasgulla, which we’ve covered on the blog earlier here, here and here. Jupi is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. She was formerly associated with the Indian Law Institute, Delhi. Jupi has guest blogged for us in the past as well (see here). Banglar Rasogolla v….

Tips Industries v. Wynk Music: A Case of Statutory Mis-Interpretation?

by Pankhuri Agarwal September 18, 2019

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We’re pleased to bring to you a guest post by Karan Dhalla, a 4th year student at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. The post critically analyses the judgment passed by the Bombay High Court in Tips v. Wynk earlier this year, wherein it was held that the statutory licensing scheme under Section 31D of the Copyright Act does not apply to internet broadcasting. We’d covered this judgment in an earlier post here. Tips Industries v. Wynk Music: A Case…

Others

SpicyIP Weekly Review (September 9-15)

by Prarthana Patnaik September 15, 2019

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Prashant analysed the challenges highlighted by a recent report released by the Indian Music Industry (IMI) and Deloitte: (i) Music Piracy: He states that it is not very relevant in a day and age where everyone has free access to music if s/he has access to the internet. (ii) Value-gap: He agrees with the report’s stance on the issue of value-gap due to legislative measures such as: (1) Section 31D of the Copyright Act, which allows the radio and television industry to…

The IMI-Deloitte Report on the Indian Music Industry: Can Piracy Still Be a Problem in a World of Free Music?

by Prashant Reddy September 11, 2019

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The Indian Music Industry (IMI) which is the primary lobbying arm for the music industry, along with Deloitte’s consulting arm, has recently released a report on “The Economic impact of the recorded music industry in India”. The report is an attempt to place a value, not on the music industry, but its contribution to the economy by valuing its contribution to the various industries which use music as a “raw material”. As per the report, the music industry created a…

Trademark

Websites, the Virtual Juggernauts, Continue to Question Jurisdiction and Enforcement in Online Trademark Disputes

by Aparajita Lath September 9, 2019

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The borderless nature of the internet has, time and again, challenged conventional notions of jurisdiction and enforcement. While countries have a legitimate interest in protecting / preserving their laws, with the internet, there is always a fear of the law becoming a general law of the internet. Maintaining this balance is key when deciding questions that pertain to issues involving parties belonging to different jurisdictions. The Delhi High Court was tasked with resolving a trademark infringement and passing off dispute…

Others

SpicyIP Weekly Review (September 2-8)

by Arushi Gupta September 8, 2019

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This week, Divij Joshi wrote on the TikTok and ShareChat dispute, where TikTok served the latter with takedown notices, claiming it had ‘exclusivity’ over the content. Subsequently, ShareChat wrote to the Government, asking it to clarify whether TikTok is an intermediary, under Section 79 of the IT Act. To this effect, Divij asks a pertinent question—‘whether TikTok’s claims of ownership or ‘exclusivity’ over certain content on its platform change its status as an intermediary qualified for the exemptions under Section…

Band Baaja Baaraat & Copyright

by Devika Agarwal September 8, 2019

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Indian weddings are an expensive affair- a recent survey reports that 20% of all loans taken by young Indians in 2018-2019 was to fund their wedding expenses! It comes as some respite then for betrothed couples that the Indian Copyright Office has recently clarified (in a Public Notice No. 10-26/2019-CO) that licences are not required for utilisation of sound recordings in the case of marriage related functions. The clarification pertains to section 52(1)(za) of the Copyright Act. Section 52(1)(za) lays…

On Gandhi, Malamud and the JNU Data Depot

by Prashant Reddy September 7, 2019

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In response to my piece on the ‘JNU data depot’, I received a couple of emails from Carl Malamud alleging factual inaccuracies in my piece. I invited him to respond to the errors on SpicyIP, in response to which he started to abuse me. When I told him, I was going to publish the abusive email on SpicyIP, he apologized and the next day withdrew the apology in another abusive email. He then publicly attacked SpicyIP on Twitter. I find…