Sound Board

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

Renewing a trademark registration in India is an important process for businesses to maintain the exclusivity of their brand and protect their intellectual property. It is essential for businesses to understand the process of trademark renewal and the importance of timely renewal in order to avoid any potential issues or disputes.

Trademark registration in India is a process that allows businesses to protect their brand and intellectual property. A trademark registration is valid for a period of 10 years and can be renewed after the expiration of the initial registration period of 10 years.

To file a trademark application in Bangladesh, you can either submit the application online or in paper form at the trademark office in Dhaka. The Bangladesh trademark office follows the 10th edition of the NICE Classification and has a list of accepted goods and services. You can file a trademark application in classes 1-34 for goods or classes 35-45 for services. However, the trademark office only accepts single class applications.

Indian business owners are constantly worried about the Ease of doing business, but yet they were not aware of one ranking where the country was in the top 10 places once. It is the Ease of doing Piracy. Twenty years back computer and computing services were very rare thing that was used only for exceptional activities, but now it has become a necessity for everything. When computers started to become the norm for every business in the first decade of the 21st century, businesses had to incur a…

Microsoft discovered that the defendants were illegally using its software products, including Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and Windows Server. Upon investigation, it was found that the defendants had 130 computer systems, most of which had Microsoft's software installed on them, but the licenses held by the defendants did not match their usage. This indicated that the defendants were engaging in the unlicensed use of Microsoft's software products. Despite repeated requests from…

In a welcome move the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks by public notice dated December 16, 2022 eliminated the mandatory requirement of filing physical copies of the forms for filing a design application in India. As a result, applicants are encouraged to use the online portal to file forms and documents related to design registration. These documents should be filed online and must be digitally signed in accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000.

As patent lawyers, meeting deadlines can be crucial to the success of a patent application. Two of the most important deadlines one needs to be aware of while prosecuting patent applications in India are the deadline for filing a request for examination and the deadline for filing a response to the first examination report.

The Delhi High Court’s ruling in the case of Adobe Inc. v. Namase Patel and Ors. serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting trademarks and intellectual property rights on the internet. In this case, the court granted a permanent injunction in favour of the Plaintiff. The Court recognised Namase Patel as a habitual cyber squatter and awarded a sum of INR 2,00,01,000/- (approx. US$ 242,000) in damages against the defendant to act as a deterrent against such actions in the future. 

The Bombay High Court ruled in favour of the plaintiff, Pidilite Industries Ltd., who had filed a trademark infringement suit against the defendant for using the mark R-SEAL, which was allegedly similar to the plaintiff's registered mark M-SEAL. The Court found that the defendant had obtained the trademark by fraudulently concealing the existence of the plaintiff's prior registered marks from the Registrar of Trade Marks.

Justice Navin Chawla of the High Court of Delhi granted an ad interim ex party injunction in favour of the well-known actor Amitabh Bachchan in the suit Amitabh Bachchan v. Rajat Nagi & Ors., CS(COMM) 819/2022. The suit was filed by the veteran actor to protect his rights against the use of his likeness, voice, and pictures for the fake Kaun Bang Crorepati lottery fraud and myriad of other scams that were infringing upon his rights and unauthorisedly using his voice and pictures to defraud…