Insights
Practical perspectives on protecting, managing and enforcing intellectual property across India and the subcontinent.
Shubhankar Mathur · 16 December 2021
Registering a Sound Mark: India and an International Perspective
The Netflix 'Ta-Dum' and 20th Century Fox fanfare are sound marks. How India registers them under Rule 26(5) — MP3, under 30 seconds, with musical notation — and how the US and EU take a more flexible view of length and graphical representation.
Philip Koshi · 22 November 2021
Patents and Vaccine Access: The COVID-19 TRIPS Waiver Debate
Oxford promised to donate its vaccine rights to any manufacturer, then signed exclusively with AstraZeneca — on research reportedly 97% publicly funded. India and South Africa's TRIPS waiver proposal followed, and the Doha Declaration was always there.
11 November 2021
Design Renewal in India: Terms, Fees and Restoration
A registered design in India lasts ten years, renewable once for five more — fifteen years maximum. How and when to renew on Form 3, the fees, and how to restore a lapsed design.
Sukanya Balasubramanian · 31 October 2021
Trademark Genericide: How Brands Lose Their Own Names
Escalator, Aspirin, Thermos — all were once trademarks that became generic words and lost protection. What causes genericide, and the steps brand owners take to avoid it.
Aashray Suresh, Nikhil Srivastava & Raja Pannir Selvam · 8 October 2021
Reasoned Orders Matter: Metso Outotec v. Registrar of Trade Marks
The Bombay High Court quashed a refusal of the mark 'SISUPER' that merely recited Section 9(1)(a) and (b) without reasoning. Why Section 18(5) requires the Registrar to record reasons — and why the ruling matters for Madrid-Protocol filings in India.
Sandhya S · 5 October 2021
Britannia v. ITC: When Are Two Biscuit Packs 'Deceptively Dissimilar'?
The Delhi High Court refused Britannia an injunction over ITC's Sunfeast Farmlite digestive packaging — a reminder that in packaging disputes, the differences count as much as the similarities.
Shana Varughese · 16 September 2021
India Needs a Post-Registration Trademark Audit Programme
India is a first-to-use jurisdiction, yet nobody checks whether a registered mark is still in use. The USPTO's random audits saw more than half of audited owners delete goods and services they had claimed. A deadwood register hurts genuine brands — here is what India could do about it.
Sandhya S · 23 August 2021
Infringement and Passing Off: How to Frame the Injunction Prayer
Pleading separate injunction prayers — one for infringement, one for passing off — is, the Bombay High Court says, 'a singularly unwise practice.' Why the relief should be framed as a single injunction.
22 July 2021
Copyright and AI, Part Two: Testing Machine Intelligence and Placing Liability
The Turing test is outdated and the Lovelace test is superficial — a machine surprising its programmer may only mean a bug. If we cannot reliably identify intelligence, granting copyright to a system that may just be advanced software is hard to justify.
Subhikssha K · 21 July 2021
Keyword Advertising and Trademarks: Bidding on a Rival's Brand
Can a competitor bid on your trademark as a Google Ads keyword? The Delhi High Court made Google suspend an advertiser's account for bidding on 'MakeMyTrip'. How Section 29 applies, why the search engine's liability is greyer, and where the law is heading.
Subhikssha K · 20 July 2021
Patent Applicant Recategorization and the Rule 7(3) Fee Puzzle
The 2020 Patents Rules gave small entities the same reduced fees as startups and individuals — but Rule 7(3) requires paying the fee difference when an application transfers to a large entity. Why calculating that difference is a practical headache, and how to fix it.
Abhishek R. · 20 July 2021
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence: Who Is the Author?
The US registers only works created by a human being. India and the UK instead give copyright to the person who causes the work to be created. Neither answer copes well when the system produces output its own programmer cannot explain.