Trademarks
Yoga and IP: Stretched too far?
Yoga is one of the oldest physical and spiritual exercises known to mankind. It is collective knowledge and has been believed to be in existence from around 2500 B.C. Come to think of it, there should be no intellectual property battle over it – it is India’s traditional knowledge and no single…
Trademark Application Status - "Sent back to EDP" or "Formality check pass/fail" in India - Explained
This is a very simple and preliminary stage wherein the Trademark Office asserts that all the formalities required to be observed while filing a trademark application have successfully been observed by the applicant and the application would soon proceed to the next level. The formalities here…
Joint ownership of a trademark in India
The joint ownership of a trademark is possible within the Indian Legislative framework. However, it represents an unusual construct in that the very concept of a joint ownership is counter to the fundamental purpose of a trademark. A trademark usually serves as a designation of origin from a single…
Indian Trademarks Registry publishes its list of Classification of Goods and Services
Up until now, after the 2013 amendment to the Trademarks Rules of 2003, we were required to follow “current edition” of the NICE classification of goods and services as published by WIPO which meant that we were following the tenth edition of NICE Classification this year. Recently, however, the…
How to file a trademark application in India?
My earlier post on how to register a trademark in India discussed the requirements and in brief the options you have to file an application for registration of a trademark in India. Over the last few weeks I have been receiving several emails and messages from entrepreneurs and start-ups enquiring…
Shopping with a Trademark Lawyer
“What the hell are you doing?” was what I heard from my wife which jolted me, shook my phone and got the photo blurred. When I looked up, I realised that there were quite a few people staring at me. Sure this is India and there are hundreds of people stopping and staring at things at any given…
Choosing the right brand name for your startup
Identifying and choosing a suitable business/brand name is perhaps the first and the most important step towards creating your very own startup. A lot of time and effort goes into searching for and settling on a suitable name, and its equally, if not more important to protect that name. A brand…
Indian Trademark Office re-initiates special drive to dispose post registration requests
According to the Notification the names of the officers responsible will be published by the TMO shortly and it is also pertinent to note that no separate hearing notices would be issued by the TMO. The Trademark Office has requested that the proprietors or their counsels should present the…
Trademark Application Status “Registered” - Explained
After a trademark application sails through the journey of examination, advertisement and opposition, it reaches the final and happy stage of registration. When the online status of a mark shows registered, it means, as the term suggests, the mark has obtained registration and the applicant becomes…
SNACKS will always be ‘some light food’ – IPAB denies Britannia the trademark SNAX
Appelant- M/s. Britannia Industries Limited Respondent- PepsiCo Inc. and the Deputy Registrar of Trade Marks Forum- Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) Facts Britannia Industries Limited had filed an application for the trademark SNAX, which they had claimed to have been using from 1965.…