201902.23
11

Special Bench permits Combining Design Infringement and Passing off action

The Special Bench comprising five judges of The Delhi High Court, recently decided maintainability of a composite suit in relation to infringement of a registered design and passing off in a case titled Carlsberg Breweries versus Som Distilleries and Breweries Ltd. The primary issue before the court was whether a composite suit joining the two…

201902.08
9

Supreme Court sets aside order in Monsanto case

The new year brought new hopes for Monsanto with the Supreme Court setting aside a Division Bench order of the Delhi High Court dated April 11 2018 which held the Monsanto patent for Bt cotton invalid. Background The genesis of the dispute between the parties is a sub-licence agreement dated February 21 2004 in which…

201902.07
9

Beauty may be ‘heavenly’ but not justifies use of ‘Miss Heaven’

Two cosmetic firms are at loggerheads over trademark rights in ‘Heaven’ for use in relation to cosmetics. Gurnam Singh (Gurnam) has filed a suit before the Delhi High Court to safeguard its rights in the registered mark Blue Heaven and restrain G.I. Cosmetics (GIS) from using the mark ‘Miss Heaven’ in relation to nail polish,…

201901.25
9

Court holds “Orchid” for education services is distinctive

Two education societies based in Pune are up in arms over use of the mark ORCHID in relation to providing education services/ running of a school. The present post discusses Appeal preferred by Sipra Education Society (Sipra) against the order of Pune District Court restraining them from using the mark “Spring Orchid”. Both Sipra and…

201901.22
9

Civil Imprisonment to Director for Trademark Violation

The Delhi High Court vide order dated 12th December, 2018 sentenced the Director of a company to fifteen days civil imprisonment for non-compliance of the injunction order. The dispute between the parties was over the mark CITI. The Plaintiff, Citi Group Inc. and Ors (Citi) filed suit against the Defendants, Citicorp Business and Financial Services…

201901.07
10

India – 10 Key IP cases and developments of 2018

Patent office take steps for being a Smart Office:The Indian Patent and Trademarks Offices have considered the need to build efficiency adapting technology to make prosecution quicker. Towards achieving this objective, both offices have now started to provide option of conducting hearing through video conferencing. In addition to this, the Controller General of Patents, Designs…

201901.04
9

Intermediaries Beware!

The online marketplaces set by e-commerce portals claiming to be Intermediaries were under scrutiny by the Delhi High Court.  The portals currently enjoy immunity under safe harbour provisions laid out in the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. This was examined by the Single Judge of the Delhi High Court in a series of cases brought by Christian Louboutin…

201812.20
9

IPO proposes Rule changes in Patent Act

The Indian Patent Office has released draft amendment rules on December 4th 2018. The majority changes are in view of expediting examination of the applications and the provision of having the bench of controller/s for deciding pre-grant opposition matters in contrast to the single controller as per the existing practice. With respect to expediting the…

201812.07
8

Challenges of Protecting Database as confidential Information

In a hard hitting judgement, the Delhi High Court dismissed the case of a logistics company (Navigators Logistics Ltd) that sought to restraint its ex employees and an independent contractor working in logistics sector from using confidential data, customer database, accounts information, airway drawings, airway bills templates, plans, reports, taxes and other financial information. The…

201812.06
8

Mankind Pharma fails to stop Mercykind

‘Mankind’ and ‘Mercykind’ two words which in common parlance relate to humanity and forgiveness was the bone of contention in an action before the Delhi High Court between two pharmaceutical entities operating under the Mercykind and Mankind tradename.  Mankind Pharma Ltd (Mankind) filed suit against Mercykind Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd (Mercykind) alleging trademark infringement and passing…

201811.14
8

How India is helping brands combat counterfeiting

India is removing policy barriers to attract investment, while policy initiatives designed to improve IP rights enforcement look set to yield results. However, the availability of infringing, counterfeit and lookalike products is also on the rise. To encourage IP rights holders to invest in the manufacture and distribution of their products in India, the government…

201810.24
8

Courts not to play role of a Technical expert

The Madras high Court in an Appeal from order of Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) opined the need and importance of the technical expert/ scientific advisor opinion in the patent disputes. Although, Section 115 of the Indian Patent Act provides for appointment of scientific advisor to assist the courts in providing opinion on technical aspect…