Sound Board

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

In the world of fashion, Swarovski is known for its crystals. Yet in what could be described as a David vs. Goliath battle, Swarovski lost its registered trademark “Crystal Glamour” in January 2014 because of a rectification petition filed by an innocuous and relatively unknown textile manufacturers from Tiruppur (a city in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu) called Crystal Knitters. However, much like the Cadbury in Cadbury vs. ITC case before the IPAB, Swarovski gave up its registered mark…

It all starts in the womb. I don’t mean anything euphemistic or metaphorical, but literally; I was recently told that to get into premier schools in India, parents have to apply for admission immediately after conception. One parent, was incredibly upset that he missed out because his child was already due in a month and he hadn’t applied! He tells me, “There are plenty of schools, I know, but in this one my child would have been able to study with X’s children and think of it, several years…

A little over 5 months ago, the IPAB’s order caught everyone by surprise. Cadbury, the company known very well indeed for Cadbury Eclairs, lost some of its marks consisting the term “Eclairs” without putting up much of a fight. Interestingly Cadbury’s loss was a foreseeable consequence of its own action against ITC.

Cadbury and Lotte are famous brands for chocolates with Cadbury probably a little more famous in India since it has been around for quite a while. This fact may have been one of the many reasons why Cadbury could obtain an interim injunction against Lotte in January this year.

The quote above might be a little misplaced since this article is about parodies of trademarks and their position in Indian law but Weird Al’s words reflect certain irrefutable truths about parodies. One such truth is that parodies are an imitation (either comical or satirical) of something famous and well-established which would inevitably be imitated. Parodists walk a thin line. For creating a good parody, a parodist must sufficiently borrow from the original for the audience to recognise it…

Following my earlier posts on this topic (see here and here) and after yesterday’s upgrade by the Indian Trademarks Office, the e-filing system (“system”) now has all the forms prescribed by the Trademarks Rules.

It seems to have become a norm in India these days to rake up some controversy before a film’s release. It is almost always either intellectual property (copyright or trademark) violation or defamation. This time apparently it is both!

Following my earlier post, I am incredibly excited about the recent launch of yet some more forms being made available online. With this launch, the Trademarks Office has made a total of 57 forms available online.