Trademarks
The Politics of Indian Intellectual Property
For those of you who decided to read the article based on the title, expecting some hard hitting piece of English prose on India and US talks on IP based on the issue of pharma patents and the like; I’m sorry to disappoint. I started off this post with a very simple question in mind as to whether…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
Parodies and trademarks in India
By the time I'm in the studio recording my parody, 10,000 parodies of that song are on YouTube. - Weird Al Yankovic, a parodist among other things. The quote above might be a little misplaced since this article is about parodies of trademarks and their position in Indian law but Weird Al’s words…