Comments on the Proposed Patent (2nd Amendment) Rules, 2024

/ By / Patent

On January 3, 2023 the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) published the  Draft Patent (2nd Amendment) Rules, 2024 inviting public comments on the Proposed Rules. As discussed here, these hastily drafted Rules, full of typos and ambiguity, seem to enforce the amendments introduced by the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 and proposes to set up a new mechanism to hear complaints against offences under Sections 120, 122 and 123 of the Patent Act. The deadline to […]

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Restrictions on E-Register and Public Search Features of the Trademarks Registry Lifted (Finally!)

/ By / Trademark

Some good news for trademark practitioners! The restriction imposed on the E-Register and the Public Search features of the Trademarks Registry’s website is finally lifted, making them accessible 24×7. As discussed here, the restriction was imposed due to an increased load on the TM application and database servers. A big thanks to one of our readers for sharing the public notice lifting this restriction, in the comments of my previous post. Readers will recall that in our Annual Review of

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Food, Fights, and the Butter Chicken: Some More Thoughts on “The Mystery of the Real Master Chef”

/ By / Others

Yesterday, Aparajita penned a post “Squawking over butter chicken: The mystery of the real master chef” sharing her thoughts on the existing “Who Invented Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani” issue before the Delhi High Court in Rupa Gujral & Ors vs Daryaganj Hospitality Private Limited. While she has raised several interesting points, there are a few more issues, especially concerning passing off, that I believe need highlighting. This post attempts to make sense of the media frenzy surrounding the issue,

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Cybersquatting: Delhi HC on Infiniti Retail Limited v. M/S Croma – Share & Ors.

/ By / Others

The Delhi High Court granted ex parte permanent injunction against the defendant entities which were misusing Tata’s “Croma” for fraudulent practices. Facts Infiniti Retail Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, is the registered owner of “Croma”. The retail chain “Croma”, which was launched in 2006,  offers a wide range of retail products ranging from electronic products to kitchen appliances. The Trademarks Registry declared “Croma” to be a well-known mark on 24 February 2020. The plaintiff approached the Delhi

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Some Thoughts on the Draft Patent (2nd Amendment) Rules, 2024

/ By / Patent

[This post has been co-authored with SpicyIP Intern Pranav Aggarwal. Pranav is a second-year student pursuing B.A.LL.B.(Hons) at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab. His previous post can be accessed here.] On August 2, 2023, the extremely problematic Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 was passed by the Parliament. As highlighted by Aparajita, here and here, the amendments introduced by the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 dilute the obligation to submit the working statement and introduce new powers for the controller to establish

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Squawking over butter chicken: The mystery of the real master chef

/ By / Others

Image from here Butter chicken is one of the most famous Indian dishes available all over India and outside. This culinary delight is now the subject of an intellectual property rights dispute before the Delhi High Court. The INR 2 crore (USD 240,000) squabble is between the Gujrals, founders of the restaurant chain Moti Mahal (and Moti Mahal Deluxe), and the grandson of another one of the founders – Daryaganj. The Gujrals claim that their ancestor created the curry in

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The Sweet Sound of Victory? BHC Clarifies that Organisations not Registered as Copyright Societies Can also Issue Licenses

/ By / Copyright

In a significant order, delivered on 24 January 2024 by the Bombay High Court in Novex Communications Pvt Ltd. v. Trade Wings Hotels Limited, the Single Bench (SB) held that organizations such as Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL) and Novex Communications can grant licenses for the musical works owned by them, even if they are not officially registered as copyright societies under Section 33(1) of the Copyright Act, 1957. For some context:  After the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012, it was understood

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Same Same but Different! The Menace of Different Drugs with Similar Trade Names

/ By / Trademark

What if we tell you that there is a drug that is used for treating diabetes, but has a similar/ almost identical brand name as another drug used for treating a type of cancer. Surprising, isn’t it? Well, as it turns out this is not a one-off case. Eerily the issue of similar brand names for different drugs treating different ailments is pretty common in India. Though there have been some directions by the Supreme Court to curb this problem,

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CGPDTM to Hold a Meeting Regarding the Processing of Trade Mark Applications and the TMR Portal on February 1

/ By / Others

The office of the Controller General (CGPDTM) has announced that it will be organizing a “physical” meeting in its Mumbai office on February 1, to listen to the grievances of stakeholders regarding the TMR portal and other issues concerning the processing of trademark applications. The notice for this meeting was passed on January 29 i.e. just 2 days before the proposed meeting and it does not state if the meeting can be attended virtually. (Hopefully, soon similar meetings will be

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Image with SpicyIP logo and the words "Weekly Review"

SpicyIP Weekly Review (January 22- January 28)

/ By / Copyright, Patent, Trademark

[This weekly review is co-authored with SpicyIP intern Pranav Aggarwal. Pranav is a second-year student pursuing B.A.LL.B.(Hons) at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab.] Beat the ‘Monday Blues’ with our recap of IP developments from last week. Do read our summaries of the post on the DHC restraining generic competitors for Ibrunitib, Delhi High Court’s finding on opposition and examination process, and some quick tidbits on the Ram Mandir, Oppo-Nokia dispute settlement, and the Bombay High Court order on Pan

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