Publication Registered design protection has emerged as an increasingly important intellectual property right in India, particularly for industries where product appearance significantly influences consumer choice. A valid design registration grants the proprietor a statutory monopoly over the visual features of an article and enables enforcement against competitors who adopt the same or an obvious imitation…
The Traditional Approach For decades, brand protection followed a familiar playbook: register trademarks, monitor the market, and take action against infringers. That approach is no longer sufficient. Today, brands are discovered, compared, recommended and ranked by digital platforms and AI systems. Increasingly, the commercial value of a trademark is being captured not only at the…
In a trademark dispute concerning the mark “MEDILICE” used for anti-lice shampoo brought by Wings Pharmaceuticals (the plaintiff) and the defendant’s use of the mark “MEDILICE LICE KILLER” for anti-lice ayurvedic (herbal) hair oil, the court ruled in favour of the plaintiff. The note outlines the Appeal filed by the defendant before the Division Bench…
ROBERT A. MERRY AND CO. LTD. V PICCADILLY AGRO INDUSTRIES LTD CS(COMM) 1164/2025 & CS(COMM) 9/2026 INTRODUCTION This case concerns a trademark dispute over the use of the mark WHISTLER for whiskey in India. Robert A. Merry & Co. Ltd., an Irish whiskey company, claimed prior international use and reputation in the marks WHISTLER and…
India’s online gaming sector is moving into a more regulated phase. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 and the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026 seek to distinguish legitimate online gaming and e-sports from prohibited online money games, while strengthening user protection, registration, classification and enforcement. For gaming businesses, this…
Overview of the case: In Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd. v. Joint Controller of Patents and Designs & Voicemonk Inc. (CMA(PT) No. 9 of 2024, decided on 05 January 2026), the Madras High Court upheld the Controller’s decision rejecting Flipkart’s post-grant opposition to Indian Patent No. IN312437. The patent concerns a virtual agent system that helps…
At first glance, the Delhi High Court’s decision in Panasonic Holdings Corporation v. Siddharth Vij may seem like a straightforward trademark dispute about cancellation of a deceptive similar mark. Panasonic filed the petition and argued that the respondent’s PONTA marks in Class 9 were too close to its earlier PENTA marks, and the Court agreed…
In a significant decision highlighting the importance of consistency in trademark prosecution and litigation, the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court dismissed the appeal filed by Laser Shaving India Pvt. Ltd. and upheld the refusal of interim injunction against RKM International Products Pvt. Ltd. and others in relation to the use of the mark…
In a recent judgment concerning trademark protection in the pharmaceutical industry, the Bombay High Court ruled in favour of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. in a trademark infringement and passing off action against Mr. Satej M. Katekar. The dispute centred around the defendant’s use of the marks “ABSUN” and “ABSUN PHARMA,” which the plaintiff alleged infringed…
In a recent decision of significance to the pharmaceutical industry, the Bombay High Court was called upon to resolve a trademark dispute between Sun Pharma Laboratories Limited and United Biotech Private Limited concerning the competing marks OCTRIDE and OTIDE. The case presented an intersection between statutory trademark rights and the common law remedy of passing…
Background Imagine teaching a machine to paint like Raja Ravi Verma, write like Arundhati Roy, or compose music in a style reminiscent of A.R. Rahman. To achieve that, the machine must absorb thousands of hours of music, millions of pages of text, and vast collections of visual art. This is the central reality of generative…
The Delhi High Court’s recent judgment (Laksh Vir Singh vs. Union of India ) on the Right to be Forgotten marks a significant step in India’s privacy jurisprudence, especially in the context of digital accessibility and online discoverability. More importantly, it moves the doctrine beyond piecemeal recognition and lays down a structured framework for de-indexing…
