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trademarks Tag

SURANA & SURANA > Posts tagged "trademarks"

AN ANALYSIS ON PROTECTION OF FILM TITLES UNDER TRADEMARK LAW

AN ANALYSIS ON PROTECTION OF FILM TITLES UNDER TRADEMARK LAW

RAKSHANA. MK Associate, Surana & Surana International Attorneys INTRODUCTION: Unlike William Shakespeare’s famous quote "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” names and titles, especially in the entertainment industry have proven to be as important or unique, in line with that bestowed upon the script, the cast and crew or any other aspect of a work. With specific reference to the film industry, the title of a movie is what promotes and popularizes the work to reach the public and its audience, thus holding utmost importance comparative to any other part of...

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EXPEDITED EXAMINATION AND PROCESSING OF TRADE MARK APPLICATIONS – A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Balaji P L.L.M., Principal Associate, Surana & Surana International Attorneys Introduction The examination of trade mark application is the pivotal stage in the process of ascertaining registrability of the applied mark by the trade mark offices around the world, which starts with the issuance of an office action/examination report with the list of objections raised by the trade mark offices or a letter of acceptance of the trade mark. Subsequently, the application may go through re-examination, advertisement, oppositions, hearings, etc., before reaching the stage of registration. The time period taken by the trade mark offices, for completing the first examination of application and...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 6th NOV – 11th NOV

CONDE NAST v. DRAKE Conde Nast, the owner of Vogue magazine, on November 7 has filed a lawsuit against Drake and 21 Savage for using the Vogue trademark without authorization to promote their new album "Her Loss." Conde Nast claimed that the rappers' promotional campaign was "entirely" based on the unauthorized use of Vogue trademarks and false claims that they would appear on the magazine's upcoming cover with the "love and support" of longtime editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, including to their more than 135 million social media followers. Conde Nast said that the defendants also produced a fake issue of Vogue that...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 30th OCT – 5th NOV

LOUIS VUITTON MALLETIER V. FUTURETIMES TECHNOLOGY INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED & ORS The Delhi High Court on November 3 has granted Louis Vuitton Malletier, a French luxury fashion brand, Rs. 20 lakhs in fees in its trademark infringement case against Club Factory, a Chinese e-commerce platform that was outlawed in India in 2021. Louis Vuitton's attorney informed the court on November 3 that the plaintiff only wishes to pursue costs in the case, despite the fact that the lawsuit was officially decided on March 24 when a permanent injunction was granted against the Chinese website and it was now scheduled for ex-parte...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 16th OCT – 22nd OCT

K. N. GOVINDACHARYA  vs SECRETARY GENERAL & ORS On October 17, the Supreme Court issued notice in response to a petition asking for instructions to protect the Court's copyright over video recordings of court proceedings that are live-streamed on websites like YouTube. The application also aimed to stop live-stream material from being used for profit. In the application, it was requested that the live-streaming closely adhere to the ruling in Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) v. Secretary General &Ors., (2018) 10 SCC 639. Justice Bela M. Trivedi and Chief Justice UU Lalit made up the panel that heard the...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 9th OCT – 15th OCT

ALLERGAN INC AND ANR. v. CONTROLLER GENERAL OF PATENTS DESIGNS AND TRADE MARKS AND ANR. The Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks has received criticism from the Delhi High Court on October 12 for failing to notify the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization of the filing of two entities' opposition to the registration of international trademarks within the time frame required by the Trademarks Act. The order passed by the Controller General was contested by the two petitioners, who had filed oppositions in response to publication of the international registration of the trademarks. The petitioners made the...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 2nd OCT – 8th OCT

QUALCOMM v. APPLE Despite the fact that the two tech titans' legal battle over three smartphone patents had been resolved, the U.S. Supreme Court on October 3, once more declined to consider Apple Inc.'s request to resurrect the case. In 2017, Qualcomm filed a lawsuit against Apple in federal court in San Diego, alleging that the company's iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches violated many mobile technology patents. The lawsuit concerned a larger international conflict between the two digital behemoths. At the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple contested the legality of the patents at...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 25th SEP – 1st OCT

MYLAN PHARMACEUTICALS INC V. MERCK SHARP & DOHME CORP An U.S. appeals court ruled that a patent held by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. for its diabetes medications Januvia and Janumet is valid, rejecting a challenge to the patent made by generic manufacturer Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. The Court did not agree with Viatris Inc.'s Mylan's argument that the invention was invalid because to an earlier patent and other publications. On September 29, the Federal Circuit concurred with the board that the patent was valid. It denied Mylan's claims that the earlier works Mylan identified would have rendered Merck's patent apparent. LIVE LAW...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 18TH SEP – 24TH SEP

INDIAMART INTERMESH LIMITED v. MR SAMEER SAMIM KHAN  & Ors. The petitioner IndiaMart filed a suit for permanent injunction against the fraudulent website https://india-mart.co/ who was fraudulently offering jobs under the plaintiff’s name. The IndiaMart is a registered trademark and also the registered domain www.indiamart.com way back. The High Court observed that “Plaintiff has made out a prima facie case for ex parte ad interim injunction. Balance of convenience lies in favour of the Plaintiff. If the activities of Defendant are not nipped in the bud, irreparable injury would be caused not only to the Plaintiff, but also to public at...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 11TH SEP – 17TH SEP

DIPALI SIKAND AND ORS v. SAMSUNG INDIA ELECTRONIC PRIVATE LIMITED AND ANR. A temporary injunction prohibiting Samsung India and one Story Experiences from using the trademark "CONCIERGE," which is being used by the Concierge conglomerate made up of Lesconcierges Services Pvt. Ltd. and Club Concierge Services (India) Pvt. Ltd., was issued by a civil court in Bengaluru on September 13th. Dipali Sikand, the founder of the plaintiff company, asserts ownership of the "CONCIERGE" trademark from May 2016.According to the claim, the plaintiff company created the 'President Club' loyalty programme for Samsung as part of the 'CONCIERGE' service with the intention of...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 28TH AUG – 3RD SEP

SONY MUSIC INITIATES COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND BREACH OF CONTRACT LAWSUIT AGAINST TRILLER Sony sued the platform seeking damages as the application failed to pay the license fees agreed upon back in March 2022 after which it considered that their deal was terminated. Whereas, the platform still allowed sharing of music owned by Sony in the Application which Sony claims to have contributed to Copyright infringement. It is pertinent to mention here that the platform has already been in disputes especially in relation to payments and licenses, with a number of companies including the Universal group. GI REGISTRATION OF KASHMIR NAMDA AND GABBA...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 21ST AUG – 26TH AUG

ALLAHABAD LAW AGENCY V. AMAZON RETAIL INDIA PVT. LTD. & ORS The plaintiff is a book publishing company and had filed a lawsuit seeking permanent injunction against third party sellers in the e-commerce website of the defendant. The plaintiff alleged that pirated versions of the book, “the Law of Torts by Dr. R.K. Bangia”, was being sold in the e-commerce website by many sellers thereby committing copyright infringement. The plaintiff had claimed that the copyright of the book was bought by them from the author by an assignment deed executed in August, 1968 and after the death of the author, the...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 14TH AUG – 20TH AUG

FLIPKART INTERNET PRIVATE LTD. v. STATE OF NCT OF DELHI & ANR. The respondent company Sanash Impex Pvt. Ltd have procured the authorized rights to sell the cosmetic products of a Czech based company ‘DC DERMACOL’ in India . A FIR was filed against Flipkart by the complainant for trademark infringement of their mark ‘DC DERMACOL’ by unauthorized resellers who were selling fake products in Flipkart and Amazon. The complainant also alleged that this act was committed by them in collaboration and connivance with Flipkart, thereby accusing Flipkart of enabling the sale of fake DC DERMACOL cosmetics and charging the resellers...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 7TH AUG-13TH AUG

DFM FOODS LIMITED v. CHANDEL STORE & ORS. The plaintiff is the owner of the registered trademark of 'CRAX CURLS' and 'CURLS' which is a type of corn-based snack launched in December 2016. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant even though changed their trademark from ‘CURLS’ TO ‘KURVY’, the packaging of the same, both before and after name change is deceptively similar with that of the plaintiffs. The Court held that the plaintiff has prima facie case in their favor because customers can easily be confused and cheated since the goods are of low price. Therefore, restrained the defendant from using...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 1ST AUG-6TH AUG

Special drive for disposal of IP Disputes Marking the 75th anniversary of India's independence the Government of India has launched the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'. As a part of the same, the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks has taken an initiative to run a special drive for disposal of IP disputes wherein parties are encouraged to dispose pending opposition and rectification cases and parties who have already settled their cases amicably are called upon to report to the same to the Registry of Trademarks. The public notice also states that parties are encouraged to settle...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 17TH JULY- 23RD JULY

Marico Limited vs Dabur India Limited The Petitioner initiated a suit for infringement and disparagement in relation to the advertisement published by Dabur in various newspapers containing a disclaimer that implies that the Device/ Label mark of ‘Nihar’ which is a part of their advertisement belongs to the petitioner. It is therefore evident that the respondent was aware that the petitioner owns the particular mark. The petitioner claims that the pictorial impact of the advertisements demeans and disparages the petitioner's product and the comparison between the products conveying to the audience that the product of the petitioner is ineffective has amounted...

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IPR NEWS – WEEKLY UPDATES FROM 11TH JULY- 16TH JULY

Franco Indian Pharmaceuticals vs Vatican Lifesciences Private On July 12, 2022, the High Court of Bombay held that in the case of rival marks where they are phonetically, structurally, aurally, and visually similar; in such a way that a mere cursory look at the rival marks brings out the overwhelming similarity in such a way that'll lead to the likelihood of confusion and deception amongst members of the trade and public at large, a high degree of protection is required. The plaintiff is the registered proprietor of the marks “GLEAM’’, “GLEAM 1” and “GLEAM-2”. And defendants are the owner of the...

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Weekly IP News Report – 1st Week of July (01-Jul-2022 to 10-Jul-2022)

PS5 comes up with a new patent that can show the players “what if” scenarios based on choices they didn’t make This patent discloses what is basically a “what if” function, which could provide the players of the PS5 the ability to not only examine replays of their gaming but also view different varieties of outcomes that might have happened if they had made a different choice throughout the game. The technique of the interface involves providing the opportunity to pick at least one of the What-If scenarios from among the available possibilities. This option paves the way to a modification...

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IP NEWS UPDATES -MAY 2022

USPTO To Begin Issuing Electronic Trademark Registration Certificates On 2nd May, the USPTO announced via federal notice that, on June 7, 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will start issuing electronic certificates of trademark registration. The electronic registration certificate will serve as the official registration certificate once it is issued. Trademark owners will have the choice to obtain paper "presentation" copies when the USPTO starts distributing electronic registration certificates, although doing so will carry a price. The ability to purchase certified copies of their trademark registrations will also be available. The Supreme Court's Effort to Resolve the Date on Section...

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IP NEWS WEEKLY UPDATE – 30 JUNE 2022

India’s key achievements related to patent filings: The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry announced the key achievements that the country has been performing in relation to patent filings. The domestic patent filing has surpassed the international patent filing between the period of January to March 2022, which is the first time in 11 years. Further, there has been nearly five times increase in the grant of patents in 2021-22 as compared to the year 2014-15. Another key achievement by the patent office is that there has been a reduction in time of patent examination from 72 months as of Dec...

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IPR Challenges in the Metaverse

IPR Challenges in the Metaverse

Metaverse, to many is that enigma where the demarcation boundaries between the virtual and real get blurred. It is the coming together of virtual reality and augmented reality. Metaverse presents a world of boundless potential. You may take virtual trips, live an ‘imagined’ life through digital avatars or trade in digital assets. You can own a Raja Ravi Varman painting or a Thor’s hammer in metaverse. In short, metaverse is the virtual extension of our real world. Why is Metaverse Important? The importance of Metaverse extends not only to personal experiences but also commercial viability. Brands now can offer you a ‘lived...

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IP NEWS WEEKLY UPDATE – 9 FEB 2022

Moonshine Technology Pvt Ltd v. Ticktok Games Pvt Ltd The Plaintiff initiated the suit against the defendant for the use of the mark ‘BAAZI’. The plaintiff claimed its marks containing the term BAAZI to be well- known and to have attained worldwide recognition. The Plaintiff alleged that the Defendant was a subsequent dishonest adopter of the mark BAAZI especially in relation to gaming services. The Plaintiff had also established that the Defendant was a direct competitor to the Plaintiff’s company as the Director of the Defendant company had been a customer of Plaintiff and claims that the usage by the Defendant...

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Intellectual Property Rights in Mobile Apps

N. Vignesh Kumaran B.E. Associate - Patents, Intellectual Property Practice Introduction A mobile app is a computer program designed to run on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. Mobile apps are a significant part of modern day-to-day businesses. It acts as the part of businesses to be a complete model for business. Mobile apps have taken over the rapidly evolving technology. Intellectual Property is involved in mobile applications and there are various instances where replication can cause serious damage to the company. The effective way is to strategize the Intellectual Property Right of companies. IPR in Mobile Apps can be protected Yes, different...

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IP NEWS WEEKLY UPDATE – 25 JAN 2022

Huawei’s Trademark applications for ‘Petal Search’ rejected The company had applied for the Trademarks ‘PETAL SEARCH’ in relation to search engine services and providing localized search services based on user search habits. The search engine was launched back in 2020 and applications for the registration of the trademarks was filed in 2021. The applications were initially rejected on the basis that there were similar marks which were already registered, containing the term ‘PETAL’ in relation to identical services, following which the company had applied for re- examination which has again resulted in rejection stating that the similarities in the cited marks...

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IP NEWS WEEKLY UPDATE – 30 DEC 2021

Kyobo Life fined for letting subsidiaries use IPs for free The insurance company holds various forms of IPs including numerous trademarks and copyrights. The company was accused of letting their subsidiaries use the Kyobo brand without paying fees from 2016 to 2019. The South Korea's financial watchdog has ordered Kyobo Life Insurance Co. to pay a fine of 350 million won for providing undue support to the subsidiaries. The action has been taken considering the economic value of the company as the unpaid fees are estimated to be billions of won. H&R Block claims trademark infringement by Square’s The tax preparation service company...

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