In two significant judgements made on September 24, 2019, the top court of the European Union, the CJEU, has deliberated upon the scope of the delisting and de-indexing requirements (otherwise known as the Right to Be Forgotten (‘RTBF’)) to be followed by search engine operators under the EU’s data protection laws, including the Data Protection Directive as well as the more recent General Data Protection Regulation. In Google v CNIL, the Court has held that EU law does not require…

Others

Justice Ravindra Bhat Appointed to the Supreme Court of India

by Prashant Reddy September 29, 2019

Leave a Comment

In a bit of good news, in an otherwise bleak time for Indian IP, Justice Ravindra Bhat was recently appointed to the Supreme Court of India. For the last 15 years Justice Bhat served as a judge of the Delhi High Court (and a few months as the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court) where he delivered a number of landmark judgments in IP, starting with his famous judgment in the Roche v. Cipla patent infringement battle where he…

Trademark

SpicyIP Fellowship 2019-20: FUCT the USPTO? – Revisiting the Free Speech, Morality and Trademark Law Debate (Part I)

by Pankhuri Agarwal September 27, 2019

1 Comment

We’re pleased to bring to you a guest post by our fellowship applicant, Akanshha Agrawal. Akanshha is a 3rd year student at National Law University, Delhi. This is her first submission for the Fellowship. In the first part of this two-part post, Akanshha discusses the recent US Supreme Court judgment in Iancu v. Brunetti, which held the Lanham Act’s ‘immoral or scandalous’ bar on the registration of trademarks to be unconstitutional. In Part II of the post, she analyses the…

Others

SpicyIP Weekly Review (September 16-22)

by Rishabh Mohnot September 23, 2019

Leave a Comment

In a guest post, Karan Dhalla argues that Tips Industries v Wynk Music, which held that the statutory licensing scheme under Section 31D of the Copyright Act 1957, was wrongly decided for three reasons. First, he suggests that Section 31D does not discriminate between different mediums of broadcast because both Section 31D(1) and Section 2(dd) are clear and unambiguous, and sweeping in their scope. Second, he posits that Section 31D(1) is the operative portion of the provision, and the remaining…

Trademark

The Trade Marks Registry Proposing to Restrict Access to Documents

by Aparajita Lath September 23, 2019

2 Comments

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

1 Comment

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

Leave a Comment

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

Leave a Comment

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

Leave a Comment

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

Leave a Comment

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…