Trademarks
Perspectives on trademarks across India and the subcontinent.
19 February 2016
Post-Mortem Publicity Rights in India: A Grave Question
Do a celebrity's publicity rights survive their death, so heirs can stop unauthorised commercial use? India has no clear law — only the Emblems and Names Act (protecting Gandhi, Nehru and others). Why the answer is decided case by case, from Einstein to Mont Blanc.
Jayashri Suresh · 18 February 2016
Sports and Intellectual Property: How the Business Is Protected
Modern sport is a multi-billion-dollar business — and IP holds it together. How trademarks (team names, logos, jerseys), copyright (logos, broadcasts), patents (playing techniques) and personality rights protect the value in sport, plus licensing and domains.
16 February 2016
Ambush Marketing: Infringement in Disguise
Non-sponsors ride the buzz of a big event without paying — devaluing official sponsors' expensive rights. With no dedicated Indian law, ambush marketing is fought through passing off, trademark and copyright. Why India needs specific legislation, especially for future mega-events.
27 January 2016
Where Can You Sue? 'Carrying On Business' Under Section 134(2)
BookMyShow sued in Delhi, where it had no office of any kind, arguing its customers there meant it carried on business there. The court returned the plaint — for a company, 'carries on business' requires a registered, principal or branch office.
14 January 2016
Trademarks for Startups: Five Common Questions
When to register, whether investors care, what protection unregistered use gives you, whether an Indian registration works abroad, and whether someone else can hold the same mark in a different class. The answers founders ask for most often.
Jayashri Suresh · 13 January 2016
Parallel Imports and the Exhaustion of Trademark Rights in India
Grey-market goods are genuine — just sold through unauthorised channels — and in India they're legal. Why, thanks to the international exhaustion principle (Kapil Wadhva v. Samsung), a brand owner can't stop resale after first sale, and the narrow Section 30(4) exception.
2 January 2016
Naming Your Startup: Search Before You Settle
A group brainstorms names loudly in a café. A man at the next table quietly registers the good ones and offers to sell them back. Whether or not the story is true, the lesson is — search before you commit, and register once you do.
1 January 2016
Why Register Your Trademark?
A registration converts a name you use into a right you own — enforceable without proving reputation first, transferable, licensable, and renewable indefinitely. The case for treating it as an early milestone rather than a later formality.
Shwetha · 30 December 2015
Amul: The Well-Known Taste of India Gets Well-Known Status
Amul — and its iconic Butter Girl — was declared a well-known trademark, joining a coveted list with Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Benz. The IMUL infringement case that triggered it, what well-known status means, and the Section 11(6)–(9) factors behind it.
30 December 2015
Phantom Trademarks: Why India Doesn't Recognise Them
A phantom mark leaves an element blank — '___ FOR DUMMIES' — so one registration covers every variation. The US allows them only where the permutations are limited. India doesn't recognise them at all, because infringement here turns on the mark's essential features.
30 December 2015
Labels Are Not 'Designs': Delhi HC on the Copyright–Design Overlap
A package label is a trademark and an artistic work — but not a 'design'. The Delhi High Court's Midas Hygiene v. Sudhir Bhatia held labels fall outside the Designs Act, so Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act doesn't extinguish copyright in them.
4 September 2015
Bata v. Vitaflex: An Injunction Against Groundless Threats
Vitaflex threatened Bata with trademark and patent infringement over an insole design — but couldn't prove it held those rights. The Delhi High Court injuncted the threats, a reminder that only a genuine rights holder can safely send a cease-and-desist.