Sound Board

Our thoughts and views on the practice of Intellectual Property in India and around the world.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has recently notified that it would be conducting Know Your Customer (KYC) verification for all the Directors of all companies by linking it to a mobile number and email address so as to verify the identity of each Director.

A trademark/service mark, is a word, name, symbol or device that is used in trade in respect of goods/services to indicate the source of the goods/services and to differentiate them from the goods/services of others. With the development of knowledge and information technology era, intellectual capital has achieved substantial importance.

To record an IP right with the Customs, a right holder must submit an application in writing with the necessary documents and information.

The Annual Report 2016-2017, released by the Office of the CGPDTM has provided a detailed report of the recent changes in India’s IP regime. This post is a brief summary of the said report and an analysis of whether the recent changes have contributed in achieving the goal of the National IPR Policy 2016 which is ‘Creative India; Innovative India’.

As we all know, advocates and solicitors ought to obtain a power of attorney from their clients including non-resident clients, in order to facilitate the Advocate’s firm or Solicitor’s firm to act in its professional capacity for the client. Many a time, besides acting as Constituted Attorneys i.e. power of attorney holders, advocates also act as the advocates on record.

In India, PRS is embodied through the Indian Performing Right Society Ltd. (IPRS), which was registered as a copyright society under Section 33 of Copyrights Act, 1957, but post amendment of the said Act in 2012, the IPRS lost its registration.

Trans-Border reputation is a concept that has been well founded in the Indian legal system since the landmark Whirlpool decision in 1996. This doctrine allows unregistered trademarks in India to maintain an action for passing off without the requirement of having commercial use in India.

The new policy is clearly informed by conservative pro-Intellectual Property (IP) ideology; yes, we are talking about the Tamil Nadu Government’s recent development on re-designating Video Piracy Cell as “Intellectual Property(IP) Right Enforcement Cell”.

Any person as described under Sec.16 of the Act can apply for the registration of a new variety of plant with the Office of the Registrar, Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority.

Amazon started something called Amazon Brand Registry, an exclusive program designed for the sellers so that they can manage their brand, products, product details on their website through their brand name/trademark.