Intellectual Property Rights
Indian Patent (Amendment) Rules, 2020: Simplifying Statement of Working of Patents - Form 27
The much-awaited amendment to the Indian Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2020, came into force on 19 October 2020. The amendment relates to the Indian Patent Office's requirement of annual filing of the statement of working of patents by the Patentee/Licensee. Single Form for multiple related patents:…
Summary of the Indian Designs (Amendment) Rules, 2021
The Indian Government has recently notified an amendment to the Designs Rules, 2001. The Designs (Amendment) Rules, 2021 (“the Amendment Rules”), were notified in the Official Gazette on January 25, 2021, and are deemed to be in effect from that date. The Amendment Rules have sought to streamline…
Rise of the Machines: An IP perspective
Over the years, movies and TV series have driven our imaginations of the versions of AI. Whether it was Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Samantha from the movie Her, Chitti from Endhiran or G.One from the Hindi movie- Ra. One, or simply every episode of the Black Mirror, the infinite possibilities…
Plex v. Zee - better never than too late?
In a competitive global market, businesses need to strive to get ahead of their competitors. One of the ways to do this is by creating unique brand identities which help make a strong impact on the minds of consumers. Trademarks are especially useful in this respect, as consumers can easily make…
Claiming multiple priorities for your trademark application in India
Businesses which have (or are) trying to register their trademarks in several countries would be familiar with the concept of priority rights. If a person has applied for registration/registered a mark in his home IP office at Country A, then on the basis of the original application, he can apply…
Legal Notices in Intellectual Property Right cases: A slippery slope?
More often than not, when a “bona fide” proprietor of the trademark (I use the term “bona fide” rather loosely here) finds unauthorized use of their mark by a third party, the first step taken (often) is to send the other party a legal notice. While some legal notices sent/received are convoluted…
Morality & IP – How far is too far?
“Intellectual property rights” is a paradox, where it promotes innovation and creativity, on the one hand, it might stagnate and monopolize ideas and business, on the other. With the development of human intelligence, complications also arose such that it became necessary to balance man’s…
Understanding the trademark distinctiveness spectrum
The primary purpose of a trademark is that it serves to distinguish the goods or services of one person from those of another. If a mark is not distinctive, it could lead to confusion in the minds of consumers and deceive them as to the origin of the product or service it represents. To prevent…
Statutory License, Royalties, Radio broadcasters and a Public Notice
Section 31 D of the Copyright Act, 1957 has been the bone of contention on many occasions with regard to issuing statutory licenses and the scope of broadcasters. In simple words, Section 31D of the Copyright Act 1957 states that any broadcasting organization that wishes to communicate sound…
Designating India in your IR trademark application with the ® Registered symbol
Time upon time, the significance of the ® (registered symbol) and the ™ symbol have been reiterated in our posts in our blog. The basic picture being ™ can be used with a trademark by entities to showcase and declare that the said mark is being used by the Applicant as a trademark in respect of…
