Editorial Staff

Old tactics but New game – Trademark Bullying

From the newspapers to our daily lives and our secret fears – it’s all about being intimidated by the big guy. Most of us believe (or is it just me?) that they can be overpowering because they are they and we are we. I can’t begin to fathom how it must be out there for the new entrepreneurs in the…


The Five Commandments of Networking for Indian Lawyers

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…


How Smart would Dumb Starbucks be in India?

Dumb Starbucks impressed and gathered quite a lot of customers for free coffee on the day of their opening in Los Angeles last week. They ran out of coffee eventually but the publicity continued! Oh, they aren't associated with the REAL Starbucks and even admit that they consider them as models.…


Cyber Crimes and Domain Hosts - Where does the liability lie?

Domain hosts are the providers of domain names, for instance, if you want to buy abcxyz.in, you will approach the .IN registry or any of registrars accredited (godaddy.com, name.com, rediff.com etc.) by them in order to secure a domain name. Likewise, you can find a number of registrars if you want…


Trademark Dispute : A Man of Average Intelligence and Imperfect Recollection

Name: Man of Average Intelligence and Imperfect Recollection AKA: An Unwary Purchaser of Average Intelligence; Ordinary Man; a Customer of Average Intelligence; Age: ~ 56 years [1958 possible year of birth] Origin: Possibly the United Kingdom – Aquamatic Case First Appearance in India: 1960 Known…


Aural and olfactory marks – I heard that it smells good

On a beautiful Sunday morning you are jogging down the street. After covering few kilometers, you decide to break for a breather. As you rest your legs, you hear the distant sound of a TV commercial from a house nearby. The sound isn’t clear and you are not able to figure out what the people might…


Yoga and IP: Stretched too far?

Yoga is one of the oldest physical and spiritual exercises known to mankind. It is collective knowledge and has been believed to be in existence from around 2500 B.C. Come to think of it, there should be no intellectual property battle over it – it is India’s traditional knowledge and no single…


Shopping with a Trademark Lawyer

“What the hell are you doing?” was what I heard from my wife which jolted me, shook my phone and got the photo blurred. When I looked up, I realised that there were quite a few people staring at me. Sure this is India and there are hundreds of people stopping and staring at things at any given…


Copyright for Everyone

At the risk of over-simplifying things and shooting myself in the foot, copyright is the stream of intellectual property law that protects individual’s creative work. Take for example when you are enjoying a meal at a restaurant; if you were to stop and think about it, copyright exists in the music…


Getting Back Your .IN Domain Name - The INDRP Way

Trademarks are to the real world, what domain names are to the virtual world; Trademarks are vital to every business because they help consumers associate the goods or services provided by them to that particular trademark thereby building reputation. Similarly, the Internet is the first port of…