Supreme Court of India | September 8, 1969 | Civil Appeal No. 1274 of 1966 V. Ramaswami & J.C. Shah, JJ. Background Ruston & Hornsby Ltd., a company incorporated in England with its registered office at Lincoln, is engaged in the manufacture and sale of diesel internal combustion engines and their parts. Its Indian subsidiary,
Ruston & Hornsby Ltd. v. The Zamindara Engineering Co. Read More »
O.S. No. 3 of 1999, decided on 17 May 2010 (Kerala High Court) Background Low Heat Driers Pvt. Ltd., a company incorporated in 1987 and engaged in manufacturing drying equipment for agricultural produce, claimed to have developed a novel device for smoke drying of agricultural products, particularly ribbed rubber sheets. The invention was attributed to
Supreme Court of India | May 18, 2007 | Civil Appeal No. 2756 of 2007 B.P. Singh & Harjit Singh Bedi, JJ. Background The trademark “Glucon-D” was originally registered in India in 1975 in the name of Glaxo Laboratories (Class 30 under the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958), though Glaxo had been using the
Supreme Court of India | Civil Appeal No. 6718 of 2013 | Decided: 2 June 2014 Bench: Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar & Justice A.K. Patnaik Citation: AIR 2014 SC 2210 | (2014) 15 SCC 360 Background Dr. Aloys Wobben, a German scientist-engineer and one of the world’s largest manufacturers of wind turbines, held approximately 2,700
Dr. Aloys Wobben & Another v. Yogesh Mehra & Others Read More »
Kerala High Court | Sukumaran J. | 7 December 1987 AIR 1989 Kerala 49 | (1988) 1 Ker LT 433 Background V.T. Thomas – popularly known as “Toms” – is the celebrated cartoonist who created the beloved characters Boban and Molly, a cartoon series featuring a mischievous child duo along with their family, which was
V.T. Thomas & Ors. v. Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. Read More »
Bombay High Court | A.P. Shah & D.K. Deshmukh JJ. | 27 March 2003 2003(27)PTC457(Bom) Background Sundial Communications Pvt. Ltd. (Plaintiff No. 1)- a television production company, conceptualized a show titled Kanhaiyya (later renamed Krish Kanhaiyya) in early 2002. The concept centered on Bal Krishna appearing in child form in a dysfunctional rich family, helping
Zee Telefilms Ltd. & Film and Shot v. Sundial Communications Pvt. Ltd. Read More »
Every trademark right in India passes through a single institutional gateway: the Trade Marks Registry. It is the administrative body that receives applications, conducts examination, publishes marks for opposition, grants registration, maintains the official register, and adjudicates a wide range of inter partes proceedings. Without the Registry, the statutory scheme of trademark protection under the
The Role of the Trade Marks Registry – Structure, Functions and Jurisdiction Read More »
Copyright protection does not extend to every work that a person produces. It extends only to works that are original. This single requirement – originality – is the gateway through which all claims to copyright protection must pass. It is at once the most fundamental concept in copyright law and, in many ways, the most
Originality as the Foundation of Copyright Protection in India Read More »
Few questions in Indian trademark law arise more frequently, or are decided with greater consequence, than whether two competing marks are deceptively similar to each other. The resolution of this question governs whether a trademark application will be accepted or rejected by the Registrar, whether an opposition proceeding will succeed or fail, and whether an
Deceptive Similarity and the Consumer Confusion Test in Indian Trademark Law Read More »
Court: Supreme Court of India Case No.: Civil Appeal (arising from Trade Mark Application proceedings) Decided on: 8 October 1959 Bench: Justice A.K. Sarkar, Justice J.L. Kapur, Justice S.K. Das Citation: AIR 1960 SC 142; (1960) 62 Bom LR 162; [1960] 1 SCR 968 Background The appellant, Corn Products Refining Co., was a corporation incorporated
Corn Products Refining Co. v. Shangrila Food Products Ltd. Read More »