In-depth analytical articles on Indian Trademark law including prosecution,enforcement, statutory interpretation and case developments.
Trademark coexistence agreements occupy a sophisticated and commercially consequential space within Indian intellectual property practice one that sits at the junction of trademark law, contract law and competition law, yet is addressed by no single statute with dedicated clarity. In a trademark register that now carries over two and a half million active marks, with
Trademark Coexistence Agreements – strategy and drafting Read More »
Trademark infringement in India is conventionally understood through the lens of civil litigation injunctions, damages, accounts of profits and delivery up of infringing goods. These civil remedies are well-developed, extensively litigated and occupy the centre of trademark enforcement practice. However, the Trade Marks Act, 1999 contains a parallel and considerably less-discussed enforcement architecture that is
Criminal Remedies for Trademark Infringement in India Read More »
Trademark issues in franchise agreements occupy a peculiar and underappreciated intersection of commercial law and intellectual property law in India. A franchise relationship is, at its core, a contractual licence of intellectual property – most prominently, the franchisor’s trademark – in exchange for royalties, adherence to brand standards, and territorial exclusivity. Yet Indian practitioners and
The right of publicity is the legal right of an individual to control the commercial use of their identity their name, image, likeness, voice, signature and other recognizable attributes of their persona. It is a right that sits at the intersection of intellectual property law, personality rights and the law of torts and its significance
When a court of competent jurisdiction grants an injunction restraining a defendant from using a particular trademark, the natural expectation is that compliance is straightforward the defendant ceases the infringing use and the dispute, at least at the interlocutory stage, is resolved. In practice, however, defendants frequently do not simply stop. They modify the mark,
The Safe Distance Rule in Indian Trademark Law – Infringement After an Injunction Read More »
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
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
Collective Marks and Certification Marks under Indian Trademark Law Read More »
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
Luxury Brand Protection and Trademark Enforcement in India Read More »
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.
Trademark Issues in E-Commerce: Keyword Advertising and Marketplaces Read More »
A trademark is, in commercial terms, the face of a business. It is the element that consumers reach for when they navigate a crowded market the word, symbol, logo, shape, or combination that tells them who made the goods or provided the service they are about to buy. The legal protection of that commercial identity