According to a recent report released by Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA) and the Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL) in 2023, about 25-30% of the products sold in India are counterfeit. Further, around 60-70% of dietary supplements in the market are fake as per 2015 study by Assocham-RNCOS. Counterfeiting not only causes…

The aspect of reputation allegedly earned by the Defendants in the context of their services cannot be of much relevance when it is clear that the Plaintiff is entitled to assert its proprietary rights based on the registered trademark. It is settled law that when an entity decides to use a mark for its goods…

Standard Essential Patent regime envisages a candid and transparent negotiation between a willing licensor (Patentee) and willing licensee (implementer). The regime incorporates mutual reciprocal obligations on both the Essential Patent holder and the implementer. It is not a ‘one way street’ where obligations are cast on the Essential Patent holder alone The Delhi High Court’s…

Facts of the Case The Plaintiff company, popularly known as the Times Group, a media conglomerate operating since 1838, claims to be involved in various businesses, namely media, newspapers, broadcasting, entertainment, etc., through its subsidiaries and affiliates. Times Group claims to have used the series of marks containing TIMES and NOW for over a decade….

In a case concerning Standard Essential Patents (SEP), the Court has the power to pass a pro-tem order without an exhaustive exploration of the quantum of royalty payments. If the negotiations between the parties fail, it does not mean that an implementer can continue to derive benefits by using the technology of the Standard Essential…

Celebrity rights have emerged as a unique category of intellectual property rights over time. As a result, a celebrity has a special set of personality rights, privacy rights, and publicity rights. This post concerns the protection of privacy and publicity rights of Sushant Singh Rajput (‘SSR’), an actor who debuted in Bollywood in 2009 and…

The parties in the suit are at odds over the use of the mark MAYO for medical, hospital, and healthcare-related business. The Plaintiff Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (Mayo Clinic) filed a suit before the Delhi High Court against the Defendants Bodhisatva Charitable Trust and Ors. (BCT) for using the mark MAYO to…

The court restrained Villeroy from using the mark ARTIS, or any other mark identical or deceptively similar to Jaquar’s ARTIZE marks The court concluded that Villeroy used ARTIS in a trademark sense ARTIZE was not descriptive of sanitaryware In Jaquar Company Pvt Ltd v Villeroy Boch AG (CS (COMM) 777/2022), two well-known entities in the…

The use of the mark (Hindi transliteration for the word MIRINDA) in relation to country-made liquor is a cause of concern for Pepsico. Pepsico Inc. and Ors (Pepsico) filed the suit against the Defendant, Jagpin Breweries Limited and Ors (Jagpin), at the Delhi High Court alleging trademark infringement, passing off its mark MIRINDA. The High…

The Kolkata High court while hearing an appeal against the refusal of patent application laid down important guidelines for the Patent office directing that “upon amendment of the claims, the amendment application ought to be examined in a manner similar to the original application. When a complete specification is amended, such amended specification should be…

The debatable issue before the Court was whether, once the Court determines a trademark to be a well-known trademark, is the applicant required to pay the requisite fee along with filing of request on (Form TM-M) to be added to the List of Well-Known Trademarks maintained by the Registrar of Trademarks or should this process…

OLD TRADEMARK LAW IN MYANMAR Myanmar had an existing legal framework for trademarks under the Myanmar Trademark Law of 2019. This law introduced significant changes to the previous legal regime and aimed to align Myanmar’s trademark system with international standards. Before enacting the 2019 law, Myanmar had an outdated trademark law, the Myanmar Registration Act…