Sound Board

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

Of the several cases of trademark infringement and passing off that are decided by the Courts, some cases are known for clarifying the position of law on an issue and some for addressing issues not previously discussed by the Courts. Not very often do we come across cases that simplify and reemphasize on the basics principles of law; this case is one them. In this case decided by the Bombay High Court, the Court has decided on the issue of unauthorized use of the mark ‘Café Madras’.

You have a brand but you don’t’ sell the products under that brand in India and neither do you hold a trademark registration for the mark in India. Meanwhile, someone in India adopts your brand name and starts manufacturing and selling products under that brand. If you have advertisements in magazines that are distributed in India and if your product is listed on a website accessible from India, can you then say that the reputation of your brand has spilled over into India?

Just as the image says, I would like to get to the point. But well..it is certainly not that easy! One of the most interesting debatable matters, atleast as far as India is concerned, is the validity of tag lines as trademarks.

Rectification of the register is a proceedings in which a party seeks to remove a registered trademark from the register. In India, Section 47 of the Trademarks Act lays down two scenarios regarding removal of a registered trademark, they are :

As mentioned in my previous articles, the life of a trademark is ten years in India post which the mark requires to be renewed every ten years to keep the mark alive. Of course, the Trademark law requires the Trademark Office to notify the proprietor before the expiry of registration. Now the question that arises is :

Celebrities in India (particularly actors and film makers) have become extremely vigilant of their rights. There has been a considerable increase in the number of cases requesting for John Doe orders, recognition of celebrity rights and the number of trademark applications for the name of famous personalities have arisen. The Courts in many cases have recognized the concept of personality rights and have even decided cases when there has been unauthorized use of a personality’s name. However, a…

Who does not love chocolates?But the British in America do not seem to be in for "any" chocolate; much to their dismay though.

Most of us use Google almost every day and intentionally or unintentionally, we look forward to seeing what the Google Doodle of the day would be! Well, that is the kind of impact that the constantly changing “Google” logo has created on the minds of its users. I personally am very fascinated with the Google Doodles and that got me wondering about the pros and cons of constantly changing the trademark.

In my previous article about trademarks, one of the important pointers I had mentioned was about “use” of the mark. Considering that usage of trademark plays a pivotal role in trademark disputes, almost a decider in cases, it is important to explore it. So what is usage in India? How have the Indian courts and tribunals interpreted usage? Do the marks certainly have to be used in India to prove usage? Let’s explore!