Sound Board

Our thoughts and views on the practice of Intellectual Property in India and around the world.

In India, a request for examination must be filed for a patent application to be considered by the Indian Patent Office. This request can be made by the applicant, or any interested third party and must be filed within 48 months of the earliest priority application. If no request for examination is filed within this time frame, the application is considered abandoned. There are options for fast-tracking the examination process by filing a request for either Express or Expedited examination.

There are several occasions when the trademark owner would like to voluntarily cancel the registration of the trademark in India. In most occasions, the voluntary cancellation of trademark registration is due to an agreement entered by the trademark owner with a third party or for other business decisions taken by the trademark owner.

ITC Ltd. and Nestle S.A. are two household names that have become indispensable in our lives. There is a minimum of one product in every household that belongs to these conglomerates. The demography of the consumers for these brands is vast and covers every age and economic group. These companies have influenced our lives such that they have become an inevitable part of our monthly grocery list.

The Supreme Court of India had taken suo motu cognizance and rendered a laudable order on March 23, 2020, by extending the period of limitation in all matters, irrespective of the genre of laws. It held that a period of limitation in all proceedings, irrespective of the limitation prescribed under the general law or Special Laws whether condonable or not shall stand extended with effect from March 15, 2020, until further order(s) are passed in the proceeding.

Subsequent to the lockdown/restrictions announced due to the COVID-19 situation, by the Government of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh & the Maldives the respective IP offices have either suspended their operations or have limited staff working remotely. 

The paranoia around the COVID-19 continues to stretch the air, people, citizens and the government continue to strive to put their best foot forward to ensure maximum safety and avoid anarchy. With this, we would like to inform you that, the Indian government have been meticulous in their work and have always ensured the best for its citizens, with this the Indian Patent Office, the Indian Trade Marks Registry and the Indian Copyright Office have released their official notices dated,…

With the announcement of the Bilateral Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Programme between the Indian Patent Office under the Controller General of Patents, Design and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the floodgates to investments and financing in India has opened opportunities beyond borders.

Celebrities influence us the deepest. Irrespective of our ‘literacy’, they help us ‘decide’ whether to buy a particular brand or not, through their appearances in advertisements. A celebrity endorsing a product or service, serves as a promise of quality and trust and strikes an instant credibility to the brand.To keep a check on this the Advertising Standards Council of India (hereinafter ‘ASCI’) released a set of guidelines in 2017 to ensure that the advertisements starring them are not…

Trademark holders can finally stop fretting over errors in their trademark registration certificates with the much-welcomed notice by the Indian Trademarks Office dated September 6, 2019.  After multiple requests from the Trademark Owners and trademark Counsels troubled with wrong details on the trademark registration certificates, the Trademark Office has gotten the ball rolling by affording an opportunity to make right the errors made by the Trademark Office on the  Registration Certificates…

Recently, a batch of seven suits for injunction were filed in the Delhi High Court by Amway, Modicare, Oriflame against 1MG, Amazon, Flipkart and few other E-commerce entities for injunction to restrain  direct sellers from selling  the Plaintiffs’ products on the E-commerce platforms without the former’s consent. .