Raja Selvam
SICLD Registry awaits its first application
I write this post with Indian audience in mind. When reading about or discussing IP laws or rights, we tend to think only of patents, copyrights, trademarks and maybe designs. There are however other intellectual property (IP) laws in India. For instance, integrated circuit layouts are protected by…
Trademark Application Status “Advertised as Accepted (AAA)” - Explained
When a trademark application is filed, it is examined by the Trademark Office to check if it overcomes the objections laid down by the Trademarks Act 1999 (predominantly Section 9 and Section 11 of the Act). If there are objections to registration of the said mark, an opportunity is given to the…
No injuction based on ‘TODAY’ says the Delhi High Court
TODAY, I was absolutely resolute to write an article on the issue of TODAY. Well, of course, I do mean ‘India Today’ and its failed interim injunction against TV channel ‘Nation Today.’ QUICK FACTS For those of you who need a quick background on the issue, the reputed India Today group had…
Delhi High Court bowls out T20 ICC World Cup Copyright Infringement
When the cricket fever has caught on, in the Indian subcontinent with the ICC T20 World Cup matches providing some nail biting excitement, the Hon’ble Delhi Court has, at the perfect moment, granted an interim injunction restraining several entities mainly appearing to be pubs, cafes and…
No monopoly over generally used words
While deciding an appeal late last year, a division bench of the Madras High Court (“Madras HC”) held “[T]herefore, such a word, which is of general use, cannot be a monopoly of the appellants alone….” It is awfully difficult to create a list of words in general use in any language. However there…
Trademark Crystal : Taking on Goliath and winning
In the world of fashion, Swarovski is known for its crystals. Yet in what could be described as a David vs. Goliath battle, Swarovski lost its registered trademark “Crystal Glamour” in January 2014 because of a rectification petition filed by an innocuous and relatively unknown textile…
How Cadbury lost some of its trademarks in India
A little over 5 months ago, the IPAB’s order caught everyone by surprise. Cadbury, the company known very well indeed for Cadbury Eclairs, lost some of its marks consisting the term “Eclairs” without putting up much of a fight. Interestingly Cadbury’s loss was a foreseeable consequence of its own…
Of animals and trademarks
Use of animal representations or their names or both as trademarks (“animal marks”) is an intriguing concept. For one, except in some cases, animal marks prove to be arbitrary in application and therefore inherently distinct. However, most businesses like to represent themselves using majestic…
The Case of Choclairs
Cadbury and Lotte are famous brands for chocolates with Cadbury probably a little more famous in India since it has been around for quite a while. This fact may have been one of the many reasons why Cadbury could obtain an interim injunction against Lotte in January this year. Briefly, Cadbury…
Justice, naturally.
An order in January this year by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (“IPAB”) drives home a simple, much re-iterated and often neglected point of law: the right to be heard. Facts of the case Abraxis BioScience LLC (“Abraxis”) had filed a patent application in 2005 for “composition and method…