Raja Selvam

Making the right Trademark “Choice”

Petitioner: Allied Blenders & Distillers Respondent: Shree Nath Heritage Liquor Pvt. Trademark: Officer’s Choice Decision making Authority: Delhi High Court Facts: The Plaintiff had filed a suit for permanent injunction restraining the defendant from selling, distributing, advertising or…


Intellectual Property made easy: Trademarks vs Geographical Indicators

Champagne, Puma, Darjeeling Tea and Ford are known all over the world. A common man would recognize the given names as famous brands. On looking closely it can be realized that the above mentioned names do not belong to the same category. Champagne and Darjeeling Tea can be categorized under…


Hiring distributors to sell your products in India? IPAB advises constant vigilance

The facts narrated in one of recent orders of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) send out one clear signal: constant vigilance! What is the case about? Pasco Sports (Pasco) traded in sports related goods and claimed to have adopted and used the trademark PAMA since 1994. Between 2002…


Trademark : One for all, all fight over one.

Petitioner: Mr. DarshanKumar Respondent: Mr. Ranjit Kumar Sharma (Respondent 1) and The Registrar of Trademarks (Respondent 2) Trademark: BAWA/BAWA FEED Decision making Authority: IPAB Facts: The Petitioner Sri Darshan Kumar started a partnership firm along with Sri Ranjit Kumar Sharma (Respondent)…


Trademark Application Status "Exam Report Issued" - Explained

Many a time, the online status of a mark shows ‘ exam report issued ,’ perceiving which, one might assume that it implies ‘issuance of examination report’ post examination of the mark. But in reality, the said status is being used by the Trademark Office to denote that the mark has been ordered to…


Trademark application status 'Objected' Explained

The term 'objected' implies that the particular trademark application has been examined and a report generated as well, laying down the objections against the registrability of the mark. Once a trademark application is filed, the first step in its journey to registration would be examination of the…


Indian Patent Office reiterates on biological material deposition before making patent application

In its notification on July 2, 2014, the Indian Patent Office (IPO) forewarns patent applicants the consequences of not depositing a sample of the biological material with an International Depository Authority (IDA). Per the present position of law, a sample of the biological material for which…


Tirunelveli or Irruttukadai Halwa - GI or Trademark

The year 2014 has witnessed a lot of goods entering the family of Geographical Indicators ( GI ). Goods such as Madurai Malli (jasmine), Pattamadai Pai (Pattamadai mat), Nachiarkoil Kuthuvilakku (Nachiarkoil lamp), Toda Embroidery, Thanjavur Veena and Chettinad Kottan (palmyra basketry) have all…


IPAB makes the Indian Patent Office see the importance of doing things right the first time

In a spate of orders recently (see here, here and here), the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) has asked the Indian Patent Office (IPO) to consider those matters afresh because the IPO’s orders lacked reasoning. In the matter of India Patent application No.1880/DELNP/2005, the IPO had…


The Tea Board vs ITC Limited – Going overboard with GI

Appellant: The Tea Board, India Respondent: ITC, Limited GI: Darjeeling Tea Decision making Authority: Division Bench of Kolkata High Court Facts: The Tea Board of India holds the famous GI “Darjeeling” and the logo of a woman holding tea leaves, as well as the certification trade mark…