Intellectual Property Rights
Empire strikes again - Indian Trademark Office issues notice regarding non filing of reply to examination report & counter statement to oppositions
If one may recall, on April 1, 2016, the Indian Trademark Office abandoned 1,66,771 Trademark Applications on the ground that the reply to the examination report had not been filed within 30 days. As you would have rightly guessed, the Delhi High Court granted a stay on the orders of the TMO.…
India: Losing rank in ease of Piracy
Indian business owners are constantly worried about the Ease of doing business, but yet they were not aware of one ranking where the country was in the top 10 places once. It is the Ease of doing Piracy. Twenty years back computer and computing services were very rare thing that was used only for…
Delhi High Court Rules in Favour of Microsoft Corporation in 12-Year Copyright Infringement Case, Grants Permanent Injunction and Awards Damages
Microsoft discovered that the defendants were illegally using its software products, including Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and Windows Server. Upon investigation, it was found that the defendants had 130 computer systems, most of which had Microsoft's software installed on them, but the…
Indian Designs Office introduces e-filing of digitally signed forms & documents
In a welcome move the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks by public notice dated December 16, 2022 eliminated the mandatory requirement of filing physical copies of the forms for filing a design application in India. As a result, the forms and documents related to design…
Court comes to the rescue of patent applicants - Extensions of deadlines in exceptional circumstances.
As patent lawyers, meeting deadlines can be crucial to the success of a patent application. Two of the most important deadlines one needs to be aware of while prosecuting patent applications in India are the deadline for filing a request for examination and the deadline for filing a response to the…
Adobe wins permanent injunction and significant damages against cyber squatter
The Delhi High Court’s ruling in the case of Adobe Inc. v. Namase Patel and Ors. serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting trademarks and intellectual property rights on the internet. In this case, the court granted a permanent injunction in favour of the Plaintiff. The Court recognised…
Subsequent trade mark owner can claim 'date of first use' of its predecessor
The Bombay High Court ruled in favour of the plaintiff, Pidilite Industries Ltd., who had filed a trademark infringement suit against the defendant for using the mark R-SEAL, which was allegedly similar to the plaintiff's registered mark M-SEAL. The Court found that the defendant had obtained the…
Practice what you preach, especially if you’re an IP Lawyer
In an interesting turn of events, the Delhi High Court in Sujatha Chaudhri Vs Swarupa Ghosh ruled in favour of Sujata Chaudhri of Sujata Chaudhri IP Attorneys in a trademark infringement, copyright infringement, and passing off suit restricting another intellectual property lawyer Swarupa Ghosh…
Who can file the request for examination of a patent application in India?
In the Indian Patent system, an application for the grant of a patent is taken up for examination by the Indian Patent Office only when a request for examination of the application is filed. Unless a request for examination is filed by either the Applicant or any other interested party there shall…
Pre-Litigation mediation in Intellectual Property matters in India
The Commercial Courts Act (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) was enacted in 2015 to establish a definite procedural framework for dealing with commercial disputes. Commercial disputes include any dispute arising out of trade relationship between parties such as mercantile documents, partnership…