Is a Smarter Scooter Frame Patentable? Court Orders Rethink on Inventive Step
In the case of TVS Motor Company vs Patent Office, a scooter maker's patent claim for a simple yet novel frame design was rejected for lacking inventive step.…
All Articles
3,159 articles
No Music License, No New Year Party: Why Hotels Must Tune In Legally
In the case of The Indian Performing Right Society Limited vs Chocolate Hotels Private Limited, the petitioner alleged that Chocolate Hotels planned a New Year’s Eve celebration on…
Copied Tractor Parts, Not the Drawings? That’s Not Infringement
Can you infringe copyright without ever seeing the original work? In a case about tractor parts and engineering drawings, the Madras High Court answered no. It ruled that…
SoEasy™: Not So Easy to Trademark
SoEasy shows that it is not always so easy to refuse a mark as laudatory: once the mental-leap test was applied, the SoEasy trademark comfortably cleared the distinctiveness…
Indian Express vs New Indian Express: Who Owns The Trademark?
In the case of The Indian Express P Ltd vs Express Publications (Madurai) Pvt Ltd, the Bombay High Court considered the terms of a court-recorded settlement to decide…
UNPLUG YOURSELF Allowed, BOULT Logos Still Blocked
In the case of Exotic Mile vs Imagine Marketing Pvt Ltd, the court considered claims of trademark infringement and passing off in relation to competing marks used for…
Shalimar Coconut Oil Bottle Trade Dress Protection and Injunction Confirmed
In the case between Shalimar Chemical Works and Edible Products, the Calcutta High Court considered whether the trade dress of coconut oil bottles—including shape, colour scheme, and packaging—used…
Old Music, New Platforms, No Rights: 1977 Bhikari Bal Odia Music Agreement Limitations
In a dispute concerning copyright in Odia devotional music, the Calcutta High Court declined interim protection to the petitioner who claimed exclusive rights in the song “Sathi Pauti…
Music Copyright Dispute Over Sagara Sangamam, and Shankarabharanam: Infringement Remedy Survives Even if Declaration Is Time-Barred
The Madras High Court looked at a copyright ownership dispute over the music of Salangai Oli, Sagara Sangamam, and Shankarabharanam, where both parties claimed rights through assignments from…
When Authors Sign Away Rights: Producer–Author Copyright Contracts Tested in Bombay High Court
In the case of Rao and Sapru Films Pvt. Ltd. v. Alok Kumar, the Bombay High Court analysed a contractual dispute between a producer and a music director–singer…
Coconut Oil Bottle Trade Dress Protection and Injunction Confirmed
In the case of Edible Products (India) Limited vs Shalimar Chemical Works Private Limited, the Calcutta High Court considered whether the trade dress of coconut oil bottles—including shape,…
Aceclofenac Marks and the Limits of Exclusivity: The ACECLO Dispute
In the case of ACECLO versus ACECLOHEAL, aceclofenac-derived branding ran into Section 13 and the publici juris problem. Registration didn’t rescue exclusivity, and the visual and market differences…