202306.13
23

Substantial delay by ‘CAMPUS’ tilts the balance in favour of ‘CAMPS’

In the case at hand, although there are substantial similarities in the competing marks, there is no material on record for the Court to conclude that Defendants’ adoption was dishonest or so to say, that Defendants have misrepresented their marks to be that of the Plaintiff’s. On the contrary, adoption of the impugned mark prima…

202306.13
23

Delhi High Court examines factors for the patentability of species patent in India

In a landmark decision, the Delhi High Court denied an injunction to the Plaintiff (BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM PHARMA GMBH) for infringement of patent rights in Linagliptin, a drug to treat Type 2 diabetes. While deciding the infringement action, the Court analyzed various vital factors, including species versus genus patent infringement. In this case, the Court also…

202306.07
24

INDIA: Dawn of New Era for Gaming Industry

On April 6, 2023, the Indian government published a public notice of new rules for the online gaming industry entitled “Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023.” The Rules require online gaming intermediaries to take steps so that the users do not share any information that infringes intellectual property rights….

202306.05
23

Agriculture Produce and Processed Foods held to be allied and cognate

The mark of the plaintiff and the defendant prima facie appear to be similar both visually as also phonetically, with ‘MONSOON HARVEST’ being the dominant part thereof. Mere addition of the word ‘WINGREENS’ or the logo in the defendant’s mark is not sufficient to distinguish the same on application of the test of an unwary…

202305.30
22

Delhi High Court Sets Out Contours of Shape Mark Protection

Under the law of trademarks, the threshold for extending exclusive rights to the shape of a product is quite high. The shape by itself should immediately be identifiable with the source of the product. For trademark registration of the shape of a product, the same can only be granted if it has acquired a secondary…

202305.29
22

Bombay High Court Frowns upon ‘Phonepe’ Contradictory Claims

‘Phonepe’ and ‘Postpe’ are the marks involved in the latest round of litigation between PhonePe Private Limited (PPL) and Resilient Innovations Private Limited (Resilient) at the Bombay High Court. The parties have had several rounds of litigation in the past before various Courts. In this round, PPL has sought an injunction against Resilient from using…

202305.01
22

Debate over ‘Trans-border reputation’ and ‘Territoriality Principle’

In this case, the question before the Court was whether the goodwill and reputation, though garnered abroad, is so considerable that it has spilled over to India to confuse or deceive a customer of average intelligence and imperfect recollection. Bolt Technology Ou (‘Bolt’) filed the suit against Ujoy Technology Private Limited and Ors (Ujoy), alleging…

202304.24
20

Co-working space operators at loggerheads over WORKNEST brand

Whether the rights of a registered proprietor in a mark planned for future utilization can be nullified by someone who deploys a similar mark after the filing date of the first mark and before the date of actual use by the registered proprietor. The issue has been debated earlier and has come up in this…

202304.19
19

Design Filing grows by over 50% (IP office Annual Report 2021-2022)

A total of 22,699 design applications were submitted, an increase of 59.38% from the previous year The number of applications that originated from India during 2021-22 was 18,851, and the foreign applications were 3848. Thus, number of applications originating from India was about 83% of total filing. The top 7 Indian applicants were 1) Chitkara…