Editorial Staff

Madrid Protocol for the Indian Trademark Owner

When it comes to international treaties and agreements, India generally signs first and thinks later. We sign on fast and then push the limits of implementing and amending our national laws until the last possible day. India’s accession to the Madrid Protocol was done in a rather similar manner.…


Comparative advertisement and Trademark Infringement

Have you come across advertisement while watching TV that compare one product with another and it is quite obvious which the contender is despite them having “blurred” the brand name? The Pepsi and Coke disputes and one-upmanship have been going on for several years. What’s generally noticeable is…


Madrid Protocol Designation: India as the Origin Country

The Madrid Protocol has simplified the process of filing trademark applications across the world by bringing it all under the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Once a trademark application has been filed in the home country or what is generally referred to as the origin country, one…


Indian Patent Office extends deadline to submit comments on revised Guidelines for Examination of Pharmaceutical Patents

The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM) released a document titled the draft guidelines for examination of Patent applications in the field of pharmaceuticals on February 28, 2014 which was open for comments until March 31, 2014 which was eventually extended…


Misspelt words as trademarks? NOT KOOL!

In my previous post I discussed three major reasons as to why descriptive words are bad trademarks. They generally will be objected to by the Registry, or they may be allowed with disclaimers and even if they are registered, they may not let you stop someone else from using a similar mark. A common…


Trademark Disclaimers – Use these words with caution!

What happens when you want to get a composite mark, which has both distinctive and non-distinctive elements,registered as a trademark? The answer is this - you simply have to disclaim that you claim no exclusive rights over the particular element or elements of the mark that the Registry concludes…


Blatant use of well-known trademarks – Acting on intention or ignorance?

We’ve all come across counterfeit products of popular brands and first copies. People have taken it one step further by selling products under the brand name of well-known trademarks like Facebook, WhatsApp and the like on clothing, food stalls and what not. There are a two possibilities; either it…


Exhaustion of trademark rights in India - The whole world is one market, or is it?

The Division Bench of the High Court of Delhi says it is, after having ruled in favour of “International Exhaustion” in the case of Kapil Wadhwa vs. Samsung Electronics Ltd., the only latest case available on the Doctrine of Exhaustion in India. So the bundle of exclusive rights granted to a…


Trademark for export trade – ‘use’ of the mark in India?

Over the last few decades, the world economy has witnessed a paradigm shift as far as transaction of goods and services are concerned. Companies have expanded their business operations and established their manufacturing units across the globe and services have traversed boundaries, which has in…


Indian Trademark Filing Fee increased – Retrospective effect from August 1, 2014

A year ago, we wrote about the tentative amendment to the Trademark Rules which involved the increase in filing fees. The Trademark Rules have been Amended and published in the Official Gazette of India issued by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. Indian Trademark Filing Fee…