India
Who can file the request for examination of a patent application in India?
In the Indian Patent system, an application for the grant of a patent is taken up for examination by the Indian Patent Office only when a request for examination of the application is filed. Unless a request for examination is filed by either the Applicant or any other interested party there shall…
The much needed check: An order of the Delhi High Court
The Intellectual Property (IP) Division of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, in its recent judgment has once again upheld the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and has issued further directions in this regard. A quick recap The Hon’ble Supreme Court, on March 23, 2020 rendered a laudable…
Fantasy Sports and Trademarks
Fantasy Sports refers to an area of online gaming wherein participants put together virtual teams composed of proxies of current professional players within a league and play for points and/or money. The teams earn points based on the real life performance of the players and compete against other…
The Registrability of Alphabet or Number trademarks in India
The basic purpose of a trademark is that it serves to distinguish the goods or services of one person from those of another. If a mark is not distinctive, it would lead to confusion among consumers between the mark and existing brands present in the market, as well as be unable to distinguish the…
Requirements of a Sound Mark – An International Perspective
A sound mark is a non-conventional trademark which is different from traditional trademarks such as a word mark or a device mark. It is a type of a trademark wherein consumers are able to identify the origin of goods and services from a particular sound. The requirements to apply for a sound mark…
Balancing IPR and Global Health: COVID-19 Vaccines
As most readers will be aware, the period of time between 2020-2021 has been marked with unprecedented disaster and suffering. The year 2020 started out with the Australian wildfires, which was followed by rising geo-political tensions, and then of course, COVID-19 spread rapidly across the globe.…
Design Renewal in India
At the outset, Section 11(1) of the Designs Act, 2000, grants copyright protection to a design for a period of ten years from the date of registration. However, if priority is claimed then the registration period is calculated as being ten years from the priority date. Further, as per Section 11(2)…
Trademark Genericide
A trademark can be referred to as a recognizable sign, word or symbol that can be used to denote and distinguish a specific product or service from others. It can be a word, logo, sound, color or slogan that helps associate a product or service to the company that is manufacturing or providing the…
Metso Outotec Corporation v. the Registrar of Trade Marks
Background The Bombay High Court on October 6, 2021, set aside and quashed the decisions of the Senior Examiner of Trade Marks refusing the mark “SISUPER”. In Metso Outotec Corporation v. the Registrar of Trade Marks, appeals were preferred before the Bombay High Court from orders passed by the…
The dire need for a Post Registration Trademark Audit Program in India
The USPTO’s Post Registration Audit Program Under the USA’s Post Registration Audit Program, a declaration of use must be filed between the fifth and sixth year of the validity of the registration of the trademark. Consequently, a mark may be selected at random, and an audit may be carried out…