Sound Board

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

The Delhi High Court’s Justice Jyoti Singh vide her order dated October 28, 2022 has vacated an ex-parte ad interim injunction (dated January 21, 2022) against Tata Sia Airlines for using the mark ‘Fly Higher’ in their promotional campaigns. Justice Singh in her order has deliberated the question of whether the registration of the trademark 'Fly High’ by the plaintiff could prevent the defendant from using the phrase 'Fly Higher' in their promotional campaigns.

The power of the internet, in particular that of social media is humungous. People are constantly tied to their phones, eyeing for any latest news that may spring up, be it in the form of a tweet, a meme or a viral video. So, when used strategically, social media rather becomes one of the most powerful tools of digital marketing. With the evolution of social media, the concept of moment marketing has also become increasingly common. But what exactly is moment marketing? It is marketing in…

Recently, the Madras High Court, in the case of Sun Pharmaceuticals (Applicant/Defendant) v Cipla Ltd (Respondent/Plaintiff) refused to vacate the interim injunction against the Applicant. The Plaintiff, Cipla Ltd, was seeking directions against Sun Pharma, claiming that the Defendant was selling medicines under the mark “Respule” which was alleged to be deceptively similar to the marks “Budecort Respules”,“Duolin Respules” and “Respules” of the Plaintiff. Cipla Ltd brought in an action for…

In a welcome move, the Delhi High Court ordered that trademark applications' whose opposition period would have expired during the suspension period shall stand extended till May 30, 2022. Accordingly, the registration certificates issued during this period will also stand suspended till May 30, 2022.

The law of trademarks firmly establishes that a trademark owner reserves the exclusive right to use the trademark and enforce the same. However, there are instances when economically stronger entities or large corporations aggressively secure their intellectual property against, mostly, smaller entities without any justifiable grounds. Through this, the former aims to monopolize the market and kick out any remotely similar business operating under the mark. This is often perceived as a means of…

Fantasy Sports refers to an area of online gaming wherein participants put together virtual teams composed of proxies of current professional players within a league and play for points and/or money. One of the most glaring problems that trademark owners of high-profile sporting leagues and sports teams face today is the piracy of their trademarks. Innumerable fantasy sport developers have taken advantage of the fans' desire to identify with a popular team, leagues and athletic organisations by…

The basic purpose of a trademark is that it serves to distinguish the goods or services of one person from those of another. If a mark is not distinctive, it would lead to confusion among consumers between the mark and existing brands present in the market, as well as be unable to distinguish the source/origin of the goods/services. Distinctiveness is an elementary feature of a trademark, and lack of distinctiveness would be a ground for refusal of the trademark. With that in mind, let us…

A sound mark is a non-conventional trademark which is different from traditional trademarks such as a word mark or a device mark. The requirements to apply for a sound mark was brought in recently through the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 wherein Rule 26(5) provides where an application for the registration of a trademark consists of a sound as a trademark, the reproduction of the same shall be submitted in the MP3 format not exceeding thirty seconds’ length recorded on a medium which allows for easy…

As most readers will be aware, the period of time between 2020-2021 has been marked with unprecedented disaster and suffering. 2020 started out with the Australian wildfires, which was followed by rising geo-political tensions, and then of course, COVID-19 spread rapidly across the globe. Once COVID-19 vaccines were invented, concern then shifted to availability of said vaccines across the world. This was especially concerning in the poorer countries of the developing world. It goes without…

Section 11(1) of the Designs Act, 2000, grants copyright protection to a design for a period of ten years from the date of registration. However, if priority is claimed then the registration period is calculated as being ten years from the priority date. Further, as per Section 11(2) of the Designs Act, 2000, a design may be renewed once for an additional period of 5 years anytime within the initial ten-year period of registration