Articles

In-depth analytical articles on Indian IP law including prosecution,enforcement, statutory interpretation and case developments

Online Brand Protection in the Age of Keyword Advertising – AdWords, Google Ads and Trademark Liability in India

Every time a consumer types a brand name into a search engine, they are doing something instinctive and commercially significant: they are expressing brand preference. The search query “Hindware sanitaryware” or “MakeMyTrip flights” or “Agarwal Packers and Movers” is not a neutral information request   it is a declaration of where the consumer intends to spend […]

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John Doe orders in Indian IP law – Anton Piller, Mareva and identity-unknown defendants

The enforcement of intellectual property rights has never been straightforward in any jurisdiction, but the particular challenge of acting against infringers who cannot be identified, located, or who are likely to destroy evidence or dissipate assets before a court can reach them has demanded a category of remedies that go well beyond the conventional interim

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Standard Essential Patents and FRAND Licensing in India : Law, Litigation and the Road Ahead

The story of Standard Essential Patents in India is, at its core, a story about two competing ideas: the right of an inventor to profit from a technology that the entire world has come to depend on and the right of every device manufacturer, service provider and ultimately every consumer to access that technology on

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Border Measures and Customs Recordal for Patents in India

India’s integration into global trade and manufacturing supply chains has brought with it a sharp increase in the cross-border movement of goods including goods that infringe intellectual property rights. While the narrative around IP enforcement at the border has historically centred on trademarks and copyrights, the enforcement of patent rights at Indian ports of entry

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Collective Marks and Certification Marks under Indian Trademark Law

Trademark law, in its conventional form, operates on a straightforward premise: a single proprietor owns a mark and uses it to distinguish their goods or services from those of others. The legal rights that follow from registration are personal, exclusive and commercially exploitable by that proprietor alone. Yet commerce is not always organised on this

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Anton Piller Orders and Mareva Injunctions in Indian Patent Litigation

Patent litigation is as much a battle of speed and strategy as it is one of legal argument. An infringer who receives advance notice of impending legal action has every incentive and often every means to destroy evidence, conceal infringing goods or dissipate assets before the plaintiff can secure relief. The law, recognising this vulnerability,

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Luxury Brand Protection and Trademark Enforcement in India

The protection of luxury brands presents trademark law with some of its most commercially significant and doctrinally demanding challenges. Luxury goods defined not merely by their price point but by the combination of heritage, craftsmanship, exclusivity, and aspirational identity that constitutes their essential commercial character depend on their trademarks in a manner qualitatively different from

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Copyright Due Diligence in Mergers and Acquisitions – A Comprehensive Guide for Indian Transactions

Mergers and acquisitions are among the most consequential transactions in commercial life. They involve the transfer of business value assets, revenue streams, operational capabilities, market positions from one set of owners to another, and they carry with them all the risks and liabilities that attach to the business being acquired. In an economy increasingly defined

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Trademark Issues in E-Commerce: Keyword Advertising and Marketplaces

The commercial internet has created a new kind of marketplace one that is frictionless, borderless, available at every hour and dominated by algorithms that decide what you see before you have even articulated what you are looking for. In this environment, a brand’s trademark performs more work than it ever did in a physical market.

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Film Piracy and Copyright Enforcement in India

India is one of the largest film-producing nations in the world. The Indian film industry encompassing Bollywood, the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Marathi and numerous other regional language industries produces more films annually than any other country and commands a domestic and diaspora audience of enormous size and passionate engagement. The commercial value generated

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