Editorial Staff
Of Companies, Directors and Ownership of Patents
The Bombay High Court recently decided on the issue of ownership of patents. The suit was filed by a minority shareholder against the company, its managing director and other directors because the patents devised using the R & D of the company was in the name of the director and not the company…
The Micromax, Cyanogen and OnePlus dispute - ‘Nothing like anything’ we've seen, but they will ‘never settle’
Most of us are aware that Micromax launched its new series of smartphones under its CyanogenMod based Yu brand recently. But not all of us are aware that Micromax fought a tough battle to be the exclusive users of this version (CyanogenMod) of Android for its latest phones in India. After Xiaomi,…
Vulgar Trademarks - How comfortable would the Indian Trademark Registry have been with ‘Comfyballs’
Amidst the major IP disputes of the week, with Ericsson stopping Xiaomi over a patent dispute and the Supreme Court denying Bayer’s appeal against the compulsory license, there were quite a few articles on the USPTO’s rejection of a trademark application called “Comfyballs” to be associated with…
Protection for colours under the Trademark Law in India
All marketing techniques are aimed to capture the attention of the consumer and make an impact. A distinctive trademark with a catchy tag line and colour scheme is probably more likely to stay on the minds of the consumer. A number of marketing experts believe that colour is the most important…
The Curious Case of two Copied Patents and the Novelty of Transparency
The Calcutta High Court, in November had the opportunity to deal with a rather interesting patent dispute where one person tried invalidating a patent which was identical to his; when both of their patents seemed to be copied from a US Patent! As it turns out one Mr. Tara Chand Banka, filed a…
How to protect your music or art in India?
YouTube is filled with videos of people (budding artists!) singing songs of their favourite artists in their own style and giving it their personal touch or artists who are remixing songs. In the first scenario, it would be a most likely be cover version of the original song since the singer is…
Assignment of Copyright in India
There have been too many copyright issues in the recent times, either between the producer or the director of the film with regard to ownership of copyright or between say, a scriptwriter and the director. This got me thinking about the rights of the different people who contribute toward making a…
What do you think about the IPR Think Tank in India or the National IP Policy?
Almost every morning most of the dailies these days carry at-least one article on intellectual property, whether it is about scriptwriters fighting producers on copyright for their stories or celebrities registering their names as trademarks, or the major issue of patents and drugs. As an IP…
Copyright on Architectural Works in India - A weak foundation?
Copyright law never ceases to surprise us with its complex yet interesting issues that affect our day to day lives. About a week ago, the IP world was flooded with news that pictures of the Eiffel Tower taken at night would amount to infringement of copyright, however pictures taken during the day…
Intellectual Property Law for Fashion designers
The Fashion Industry is an Intellectual property intensive industry as it is that industry that involves continuous creation of new and innovative ideas that are commercially exploited. If you just look at your reflection in the mirror, you will find that you are literally wearing “ Intellectual…