The Division Bench (DB) of the Karnataka High Court recently delivered a significant ruling in a batch of appeals filed by the Appellant, Mr. Boman Irani and Classic Legends, challenging a common judgment of the Single Judge concerning the assets of Ideal Jawa (India) Ltd., a company under liquidation, and more specifically, the ownership and…

The Bombay High Court recently granted an interim injunction in favour of Petrofer Chemie H.R. Fischer GmbH & Co. KG (“Plaintiff”) in its trademark infringement and passing-off action against United Petrofer Limited (“Defendant”). The order restrains the Defendant from using the mark “UNITED PETROFER,” its corporate name, and the domain unitedpetrofer.com, or any other mark…

Design protection is crucial for businesses that rely on unique product appearances to differentiate themselves from the competitor’s product. The dispute between Relaxo Footwears Ltd. (Relaxo) and Aqualite Industries Pvt. Ltd. (Aqualite) over flip flop slippers (known as ‘hawai slippers’ in India) provides a clear guidance on novelty, prior art and aesthetic appeal of a…

There are strategic intellectual property considerations at every stage of a brand’s development. Ranjan Narula, Aditi Roy Chowdhury, and Simran Singh of RNA, Technology and IP Attorneys outline how startups can take a phased approach. In the life cycle of a startup, few assets are as powerful yet underestimated as intellectual property (IP). Among the…