In-depth analytical articles on Indian IP law including prosecution,enforcement, statutory interpretation and case developments
Few provisions in the entire canon of global intellectual property law have attracted as much sustained attention, controversy and scholarly debate as Section 3(d) of the Patents Act, 1970. In the two decades since India inserted this provision into its patent statute as part of the 2005 amendment that brought the country into compliance with […]
Section 3(d) and the Evergreening Debate in Indian Pharma Patents Read More »
The protection of computer programs under intellectual property law is one of the most consequential and contested questions in the history of modern legal systems. Software drives virtually every sector of the contemporary economy – from financial systems and medical devices to communications infrastructure and consumer entertainment. The legal framework that governs who owns software,
The law of passing off occupies a foundational position in the Indian intellectual property landscape. It is the common law action through which traders protect the goodwill and reputation they have built in their unregistered marks, trade names, get-up and other indicia of commercial identity against misappropriation by competitors who seek to exploit that reputation
Passing Off in India – Elements, Evidence and Remedies Read More »
Music is among the oldest and most universal forms of human expression and it is also among the most legally complex categories of creative work that copyright law is called upon to protect. A single commercially released song involves, in the ordinary case, at least three distinct creative contributions – the musical composition created by
Copyright in Music – Composers, Lyricists and Performers Read More »
Trademark law exists to protect two distinct but related interests simultaneously. It protects the proprietor of a registered mark against the unauthorized use of that mark by others who would free-ride on the reputation and goodwill that the proprietor has built. And it protects consumers against confusion – against the risk that they will be
Trademark Infringement under Section 29 – A Complete Analysis Read More »
Among the three foundational criteria that a patent applicant must satisfy to obtain a grant novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability industrial applicability is perhaps the least litigated and the least theoretically contested, yet it performs an indispensable function in defining the outer boundary of the patent system’s reach. It is the criterion that ensures
Industrial Applicability as a Patentability Criterion under the Patents Act, 1970 Read More »
Few creative works demand as much capital, coordinate as many individual contributions, or generate as much commercial activity as a cinematograph film. A feature film involves the labour of writers, directors, composers, lyricists, performers, cinematographers, editors, sound designers, visual effects artists and hundreds of others whose individual creative contributions are assembled, over months or years,
Copyright in Cinematograph Films – Ownership, Rights and Exploitation Read More »
The Register of Trade Marks is not an immutable document. While registration confers significant legal presumptions in favour of the proprietor and is treated as prima facie evidence of validity under Section 31 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, the register is not beyond challenge. Marks may find their way onto the register through error,
Trademark Rectification Proceedings – Sections 57 to 60 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 Read More »
A patent, once granted, is not inviolable. The Patents Act, 1970 recognizes that the grant of a patent is an administrative act performed on the basis of an examination that, however thorough, may not always capture every deficiency in an application whether a failure of novelty, an insufficient disclosure, a statutory exclusion that was not
Revocation of Patents under Section 64 – Grounds and Procedure Read More »
The journey of a trademark application from the moment it is filed to the point at which it is accepted for advertisement is one of the most consequential phases in the entire registration process. It is during this period that the Trade Marks Registry scrutinizes the application against the requirements of the Trade Marks Act,
Trademark Examination in India – From Filing to Acceptance Read More »