Trademarks
Perspectives on trademarks across India and the subcontinent.
1 July 2019
'Legal Fakes': When Someone Registers Your Brand First
Supreme Italia built an entire business on registering the Supreme mark in countries where the original hadn't. Samsung announced a collaboration with it by mistake. The exposure comes from first-to-file systems — and from brands that don't file where they trade.
24 June 2019
Adidas and the Three Stripes: Distinctive, or Distinctive Enough?
The EU General Court upheld the annulment of Adidas's three-stripe mark — not because nobody recognises it, but because the evidence of acquired distinctiveness covered five member states out of twenty-eight. A lesson in what EU-wide proof actually requires.
21 June 2019
Fake Job Scam on a Look-Alike Domain: Colgate Wins an Injunction
Fraudsters registered colgatepalmoliveindia.in, posed as HR recruiters, and took 'deposits' from job seekers. The Delhi High Court injuncted them, ordered NIXI to block the domains, and directed banks to freeze the accounts — a template for tackling brand-impersonation fraud fast.
Archana Priyadharshini · 19 June 2019
Scandalous, Obscene, or Offensive: The Lesser-Seen Bars in Section 9
Beyond the usual distinctiveness objection, Section 9(2) bars marks that hurt religious sensibilities or contain scandalous or obscene matter. What these lesser-seen grounds cover — and why the 'obscene' bar is contested.
15 June 2019
No Removal Without Notice: Section 25(3) and the O-3 Renewal Reminder
The Registry removed a mark for non-renewal, relying on a public notice and claiming it had sent the statutory notice without any proof of service. The Delhi High Court restored the mark — and directed the Registry to reconsider every case removed without a record of Section 25(3) notice.
11 June 2019
India Joins the Nice, Vienna and Locarno Agreements
In June 2019 India acceded to the three WIPO classification treaties — Nice for goods and services, Vienna for figurative elements, Locarno for industrial designs. It aligned Indian classification practice with the rest of the world and gave India a vote on how those systems evolve.
5 June 2019
Can You Register a Hashtag as a Trademark?
The hash symbol adds nothing distinctive on its own. A hashtag is registrable only where the words it contains function as an identifier of source — and enforcing one against ordinary social media use is harder still.
31 May 2019
Shape as a Design or a Trademark? The Crocs Ruling and Its Puzzle
Can the shape of a product be both a registered design and a trademark? The Delhi High Court's Crocs decision said no — what is registered as a design cannot be a trademark, even after the design lapses. A ruling that raised as many questions as it answered.
30 May 2019
Canada's 2019 Trademark Overhaul
On 17 June 2019 Canada dropped its use requirement, joined the Madrid Protocol and Nice Classification, opened registration to scent and taste marks, and shortened terms to ten years. The predicted squatting problem arrived, and so did the tools to address it.
13 May 2019
Cadbury and the Colour Purple: A Lesson in Defining a Mark
Cadbury fought for decades to own Pantone 2685C purple for chocolate — then lost, because one word, 'predominant', made its mark too vague. Why colour marks must be defined with precision, and what the UK Court of Appeal decided.
12 October 2018
Trademark Registration, Renewal and Opposition in Qatar: A Guide
A practical guide to trademarks in Qatar under Law No. 9 of 2002 — what's registrable (and the classes that aren't), who can file, the single-class filing rule, the process and documents, the 4-month opposition window, the 10-year term, and non-use cancellation.
11 October 2018
Domain Name Disputes: How UDRP and INDRP Work
Someone registered a domain using your brand. How do you get it back? The three things you must prove, and the fast administrative routes — UDRP for global domains, INDRP for .in — that decide these disputes.