18 MAY 2023
Influencer dispute highlights need to regulate denigrating content featuring brands
The High Court of Calcutta’s ruling on the row between a juice producer and an influencer underlines the lack of legislative clarity on differences between the honest use of a mark as part of free speech and disparaging use on social media.
Authors:
Sonal Goel
11 MAY 2023
Decision sidesteps anti-dissection rule to insist that trademark components matter
The Delhi High Court’s analysis of a trademark conflict involving media conglomerate BCCL emphasises the shared, dominant feature of competing marks, which could well prove seismic for owners of marks with common characteristics.
Authors:
Dhruv Goel
27 APRIL 2023
Alcohol labelling spat highlights jurisdictional limits
The Delhi High Court’s ruling on the conflict between competitors in India’s alcoholic beverages industry sheds light on the influence of jurisdictional restraints on where plaintiffs can file suits and whether a court can hear them.
Authors:
Syed Abbas Askari
20 APRIL 2023
Use of reverse confusion theory proves increasingly popular
In trademark disputes between junior and senior users of shared or similar marks, the reverse confusion theory is emerging as a helpful argument for Indian rights holders fighting possible infringers that enjoy a larger market share and greater public awareness.
Authors:
Jessica Kaur Sahni
06 APRIL 2023
Repeat showdowns between Swiggy and GoDaddy shed light on key aspects of intermediary liability
In battles before the High Court of Bombay, the two companies drew attention to the nature of a domain registrar’s intermediary liability for infringement of another entity’s trademark in the lead-up to the impending Digital India Act.
Authors:
Tanmay Joshi
16 MARCH 2023
Bicycle dispute clarifies range of protection for numeral trademarks
The Delhi High Court’s ruling on the conflict between two bicycle manufacturers highlights the importance of a numeral mark’s arbitrary nature and spells out key principles for resolving similar disputes.
Authors:
Udayvir Rana
09 MARCH 2023
Subway emerges victorious in battle against copycat
Following an unsuccessful attempt against Suberb, a former franchisee turned copycat competitor, Subway’s victory on appeal highlights the extent of the fast-food giant’s reputation, goodwill and the strength of its comprehensive IP portfolio.
Authors:
Suyash Malhotra
23 FEBRUARY 2023
Appeal makes sense of contrary submissions before Trademarks Registry and Delhi High Court
A fresh appeal from a two-judge bench weighs the plaintiff’s attempts to claim that the defendant’s trademark “is deceptively similar” to its own against its previous declaration before the Trademarks Registry that there was “no likelihood of confusion” between the two marks.
Authors:
Udayvir Rana
16 FEBRUARY 2023
Recurring tyre dispute shines spotlight on the strength of proprietary rights
The Delhi High Court has affirmed that a tyre tread pattern can function as a source indicator, thus meaning that it qualifies for protection against copycat products.
Authors:
CA Brijesh
09 FEBRUARY 2023
Playing card spat highlights that prior rights are a winning hand
An opposition before the Indian Trademark Opposition is a powerful example of how proof of prior rights through registration and use can be used to defeat new entrants, even if they have managed to make inroads into the market.
Authors:
Shivam Vikram Singh
15 DECEMBER 2022
WIPO Indicators and EAC report show India’s trademark landscape is in excellent health
The growth of the IP sector is pivotal to India's ascension as an economic superpower. Recent data demonstrates a highly encouraging boom in Indian trademark filings, however, the country now faces challenges in expanding its capacity to process applications.
Authors:
Radha Khera
10 NOVEMBER 2022
“Food, glorious food”: cooking up trademark rights in India
No law currently outlines protection of culinary intellectual property in India, so restaurants and chefs must instead rely on two palatable alternatives to enforce their IP rights.
Authors:
Dhruv Goel and Radha Khera
13 OCTOBER 2022
Delhi High Court finds KHADI and charkha logo marks to be well known
Over the last few months the Khadi & Village Industries Commission has won multiple successes before the Delhi High Court enforcing its rights to the KHADI mark, including an award of Rs1 million and costs of Rs200,000 following an infringement claim.
Authors:
Bisman Kaur and Shrabani Rout
15 SEPTEMBER 2022
E-commerce platform’s suggested-seller function leads to finding of passing off
An online seller has scored an important point against a major Indian e-commerce site before the Delhi High Court. The site has a function that suggests users visit other sellers’ pages, which, in this case, promoted the products of unrelated third-party sellers that were taking advantage of the plaintiff’s brand.
Authors:
Bisman Kaur
11 AUGUST 2022
Shaping the law: high court clarifies requirements for shape marks
A recent case has prompted the Delhi High Court to reiterate the necessity for shape marks ― which have a notoriously high threshold for registration ― to have a secondary meaning.
Authors:
Samta Mehra
27 JULY 2022
Supreme Court elevates copyright infringement to a serious non-bailable offence
New interpretation of copyright law makes infringement a cognisable, non-bailable offence for which an individual can be arrested. The effect of this strong ruling on creative freedom remains to be seen.
Authors:
Dhruv Goel
21 JULY 2022
Courts examine keyword advertising as trademark infringement
Indian courts are deciding whether using a registered trademark as a keyword on the Google Ads service amounts to use of a mark, and, if so, whether this provides an unfair advantage by misleading consumers.
Authors:
Udayvir Rana
07 JULY 2022
Spotlight on the right-to-repair movement and IP rights in India
The growing right-to-repair movement is demanding that manufacturers stop suppressing consumer and third-party repairs; however, manufacturers claim that this will force them to reveal proprietary technology and that poor-quality repairs will create brand dilution. Trends in India favour access to quality goods at free market prices.
Authors:
Shrabani Rout
16 JUNE 2022
Landmark interpretation could bring significant changes to Indian trademark practice
In a recent ruling, the deputy registrar concluded that the processing of a trademark application can be expedited at any stage up to its final disposal by filing a suitable application at the appropriate time. The decision has wide-ranging ramifications and is bound to come up for analysis again sooner rather than later.
Authors:
Bisman Kaur
