In India, humour, parody, and satire have always been a big part of public conversations. They are great for challenging societal and political norms and speaking out against institutions, politics, and even big companies. In the context of parody and satire by stand-up comedians, in the case of Ashutosh Dubey Vs. Netflix Inc and Others1…

In a recent ruling Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha vs The Registrar of Trade Marks, Comm (Misc) 650 of 2022, the Bombay High Court has set aside the order of the Registrar refusing Yamaha’s ‘WR’ mark based on Honda Motor Company Ltd.’s “WR-V” trademark registered in class 12. The Court while setting aside the order emphasized…

Background The Plaintiff, Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki (Toyota), Japan, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against LMW Limited (“defendant”) for alleged patent infringement related to Indian Patent IN759 titled “Fiber Bundle Concentrating Apparatus in Spinning Machine.” The plaintiff/Toyota sought to restrain the defendant from using and selling the defendant’s product Spinpact or any other product infringing…

Goethe-Institut sued the defendants for unauthorised use of the marks MAX MUELLER and MAX MUELLER INSTITUTE for similar educational services The court noted that a passing-off action will lie even against a registered trademark owner The plaintiff has been using MAX MUELLER BHAVAN to identify its institutes since 1957, while the defendants adopted the mark…

The Delhi High Court granted Amazon Technologies Inc. (Amazon Tech) a stay on the operation of the decree awarding ₹336,02,87,000/- (approx. US$ 390 Million) plus costs for trademark infringement, highlighting serious procedural irregularities, lack of pleadings and evidence against Amazon Tech, and improper enhancement of damages. The judgment primarily deals with an application by Amazon…

Background In an Appeal from refusal Order of a Patent Application the Delhi High court clarified that even for Intermediate chemical compounds, it is important to show enhanced therapeutic efficacy to overcome objection under section 3(d) and Inventive step of the Intermediate compounds. Intermediate compounds are the compounds which are generated during a chemical reaction….

C.A.(COMM.IPD-PAT) 439/2022 The invention claimed in the patent application is a mere sequence of instructions stored in hardware without solving any technical problem or offering any technical advancement to the hardware. The article discusses an appeal filed by Kroll Information Assurance, LLC (Appellant) against the order of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CG)….

Background Rainbow Children’s Medicare Limited (RCML), a well-known hospital chain based in Hyderabad specializing in paediatrics, obstetrics, and gynaecology faced infringement of its rights in the mark/name RAINBOW by a Bengaluru-based firm, Rainbow Healthcare (RH). The case was filed by RCML before Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, Bengaluru, who eventually dismissed RCML’s application for…

C.A.(COMM.IPD-PAT) 44/2023- Delhi High court The article discusses an appeal filed by AbbVie Biotherapeutics Inc. and AbbVie Inc. (Appellants) at the Delhi high Court against the refusal of their Patent application (Application No. 201817047767) for an anti-cMet antibody drug conjugate by Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs. Background of the Case The appellants filed the…

TikTok Limited, a technology company operating a social media video application called TikTok, and despite its global outreach and immense popularity worldwide denied coveted well-known status in India. Facts and Background TikTok applied for declaration of its name as a well-known mark in India. The framework for determining whether a trademark is well-know is provided…