Celebrating 20 Years of IP Excellence

Blackberry logo has been set as featured image, as the post is about a patent case involving Blackberry

Patent Settlement – Blackberry v Typo

  This post, Patent Settlement - Blackberry v. Typo, is authored by Anchita Sharma.   After getting a preliminary injunction against the first key board of Typo Products, last year, Blackberry triumphed once again, in a settlement reached against Typo 2, in the US District Court for Northern California.   Typo keyboards have been in troubled waters from the very outset. The company was a collaborative effort of Ryan Seacrest (of the American Idol fame) and entrepreneur Laurence Hallier. The first keyboard, Typo 1,…

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Featured image of peps Spine guard mattress is used, as the post is about a trademark issue related to this. To read the post click here.

Trademark Case Review: PEPS Industries v. Coir Foam

This article is a contribution by Savitran - Intern at BananaIP Counsels The Delhi High Court has ordered an interim injunction against Coirfoam India Pvt. Ltd. to desist it from using a mark identical or similar to ‘Spring Guard’, which is the trademark owned and registered by Peps Industries Pvt. Ltd. To briefly state the facts, the Plaintiff, Peps Industries Pvt. Ltd., is engaged in the business of manufacturing, marketing and selling sleep comfort products such as mattresses, pillows, cushions,…

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A custom made image which reads "Indian National IP Policy", which is the subject of the article. To read please click here.

Indian National IP Policy Update

It has been reported in the Business Standard on May 26, 2015, that the final version of the National IP Policy is expected to be delayed. The delay is due to pending comments and inputs from 3 important ministries: Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and Ministry of External Affairs. No inputs have yet been given by Departments of Pharmaceuticals and Commerce. The delay is not surprising, and is probably good for India. The first draft of the…

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The image depicts the a tag with Copyright written on it

Fighting Pirates – Copyright v. Privacy

The conflict between copyright enforcement and privacy has been one of the stumbling blocks in fighting online piracy. While proof of direct infringement by internet users is an essential element for action against online pirates, privacy of user data is an essential mandate to live and transact on the world wide web. Owing to privacy responsibilities of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), copyright holders find it very difficult, or impossible, to acquire details of internet users involved in downloading, uploading and…

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Electronics Telecom Patent Department

Rise of the Drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles)

  Robotics has changed the way we work! A function, which was once done manually, has been replaced with robots working every inch of it. This reduces human error and losses of any form. On the same note, drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are a boon to mankind. Drones have been used by many national organizations to gather such information that is outside the domain of a human being. But nowhere have drones been used to deliver products to customers in and around a specific area. Yes,…

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Big Kit Kat Array x

The Chocolate Wars – Wrangle between Nestle & Cadbury on KitKat Shape TM

In this reigning retail world, even minor details of products that may bring major changes in the market, matter. In this current scenario every company wants to protect its identity through trade mark registrations. The whole story started in the year 2010 when Nestle applied to register trademark for its four-fingered chocolate - KitKat. Cadbury clashed with nestle in filing the trade mark for the KitKat shape. UK Registry of trade mark turned down the application by Nestle after hearing opposition…

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This image depicts a slide on section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act. This image is relevant because this post talks about a presentation on section 3(d) by Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala. Click on the image to view full post.

Intellectual Property: Section 3(d) and its Application – Are we stretching it too far?

This presentation by Dr. Kalyan Kankanala in a program organized by MILAT provides an insight into the application of Section 3(d) after the Novartis case. After a quick historical perspective and philosophical background to Section 3(d), Kalyan talks about the parameters for assessing Section 3(d) exclusions. Focussing on the new form exclusion, he points out issues in the efficacy approach followed by the Supreme Court using a salt form of morphine and a genetic invention as examples. Kalyan also brings…

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Alt. Text: This image depicts the Skype Trademark. This image was used because this post relates to a case involving Skype. Click on the image to read full post.

Phonetic Justice for Trademark

  This article was contributed by Swastika Chakravarti. How important are phonetics in trademarks, you ask? The General Court of the European Union has an answer for you. In deciding a matter between Pay TV giant, Sky and Microsoft (owners of Skype), the Court relied on the similarity of signs in terms of concept and phonetics to deny Microsoft a trademark for Skype in Europe. Holding that the pronunciation of ‘y’ in Skype is no shorter than in Sky, the Court…

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The Picture depicts the Grave of Nellie Bly in Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York. This image is relevant as the post is all about Nellie Bly, Inventor of Steel Barrel. Click on the image for full description.

Nellie Bly – Inventor of the Steel Barrel

American journalist, Elizabeth Cochrane, better known by her pen name Nellie Bly had her 151st birthday on May 5th, 2015 in celebration of which, Google released a harmonious doodle. Nellie Bly was often looked at as an iconic character who encouraged women to become journalists. It is rumoured that her ground-breaking spirit became more pronounced after the death of her father when she was only 6 years old. Nellie Bly was only 18 when she so overwhelmed a newspaper editor…

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This image depicts Steinway Grand Piano Iron Plates and Strings. This image is relevant as the post is about the Birthday of the Inventor of Piano. Click on the image for full description.

Happy Birthday Inventor of Piano

  Today’s Google doodle celebrates the 360th birthday of Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco, who was credited with inventing the modern piano. Bartolomeo Cristofori was born on May 4, 1655 in Padua, Republic of Venice in Northern Italy. At the age of 33, he was employed by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany. He was hired not only to be a musical instrument technician, but also possibly as a musical instrument inventor. Cristofori was an expert harpsichord (as piano was known…

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