Trademarks
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…
A truly comprehensive e-filing system by Indian Trademarks Office
Following my earlier posts on this topic (see here and here) and after yesterday’s upgrade by the Indian Trademarks Office, the e-filing system (“system”) now has all the forms prescribed by the Trademarks Rules. This upgrade consists of requests relating to recordal, cancellation and other changes…
Things are looking “rosy” for Gulaab Gang... for now
It seems to have become a norm in India these days to rake up some controversy before a film’s release. It is almost always either intellectual property (copyright or trademark) violation or defamation. This time apparently it is both! Gulaab Gang is a Hindi film which apparently deals with social…