Sound Board

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

Upon a thorough examination, the Court concluded that if a patent has not been renewed, no action for infringement would lie. Similarly, once the patent is published, no infringement action can be filed until the patent is granted, though damages can be sought with effect from the date of publication. Thus, the continuation of an injunction, even for a day, would not be permissible once the patent is revoked.

This order by the Hon’ble Bombay High Court, delivered on 28th September, 2019 pertaining to subtitles in movies, is one such droplet that will potentially open the floodgate for the entertainment and media law sector in India.

Imagine not being able to label your lungis, as “lungi” because a juggernaut has registered a trademark for the word? Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Kim Kardashian West attempted to trademark the word, “kimono” for her new line of shapewear. The application was withdrawn following backlash from netizens accusing Kim for cultural appropriation. This is not the first time the global community has created an uproar about a trademark being cultural appropriation of a community.

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…

The Cell for IPR Promotion and Management, under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DIPP) floated a 23 page model guidelines booklet on the implementation of IPR policies in Academic Institutions, in early September, 2019.

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…

Did you know that there is an entire system that dictates the quality and features of technological devices, which everyone in the industry has to follow? This is the world of Standard Essential Patents, where technological development and trade are slowly but surely getting choked by the whims and fancies of their inventors, who know how to throw their weight about especially without the sufficient restraints of law.  

It is of common knowledge that planes fly by taking off, but sometimes they just have to take off in the other sense of the word! Rightfully!

The importance of a Trademark and the benefits it confers on a business entity cannot in any manner be overlooked. A dispute arose between Max Healthcare Institute Limited and Shahrudya Health Care Private Limited, the Plaintiffs and Defendants respectively.

the Engineering Export Promotion Council Chairman, Ravi Seghal, emphasized on the need for the adoption of Intellectual Property rights to protect  innovative ideas and strategies of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSME’s) in a highly competitive global economy.