Celebrating 20 Years of IP Excellence

Featured image is a Venn diagram representation of Intellectual Property. To read the post click here.

The Case of Indian Intellectual Property – Misplaced Perception

Walking out and looking at yourself is not very easy, but it must be done to understand what is going on with you. That will also give an insight into how people are perceiving you. It seems that India has not been very successful in looking at itself as a third party, and understanding how other countries are perceiving it. Maybe, someone did that and was happy with the impression the country is making. This post is a response to…

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Featured image is of a computer code, as the post is based on it. To read the post click here

Copyright V. Privacy – Flash, Airtel, GitHub and Tejesh

Tejesh, based out of Bangalore, had allegedly discovered that browsing  on Airtel's 3G network was being slowed down by code that helps Airtel generate revenue from data services offered by the telecom service provider. After making the discovery, Tejesh posted the code along with screen shots on Git Hub. In response, Flash Networks, the owner of the code sent a cease and desist notice to Tejesh alleging copyright infringement. It also sent a DMCA take down notice to Git Hub,…

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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.

Peps Industries Vs. Shakti Mattresses & Gears

  The Delhi High Court has passed an ex-parte interim injunction against Shakti Mattresses & Gears Pvt. Ltd. on 29th May 2015, to restrain from dealing in the goods and services, under the mark ‘SPINE GUARD’, which is a registered trademark of the plaintiff, Peps Industries Pvt. Ltd. To briefly state the facts, the Plaintiff, Peps Industries Pvt. Ltd., is engaged in the business of manufacturing, marketing and sale of sleep comfort products such as mattresses, pillows, cushions, sofas, beds and…

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Featured image is of a Zara Store in Sydney, as the post is about the Zara trademark and how it got its name. To read more click here.

This town isn’t enough for the two of us : Zara Trademark Dispute

This conflict is between a world-renowned luxury-clothing brand and a renowned restaurant and bar in a city. The Delhi High Court decided the trademark infringement tussle in favor the luxury brand ZARA, not because it is celebrated around the world but simply to protect the brand’s trademark rights. ZARA, an internationally reputed brand, the plaintiff sued Zara Tapas Bar for trademark infringement and sought injunction restraining the defendant from infringement, passing off and dilution of its trademark. The plaintiff contended…

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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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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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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 the close shot of dark roasted coffee beans. This Image is relevant as the article deals with the analysis of Costa Rica coffee as GI. Click on this Image for more Information.

Analysis of Costa Rica Coffee (Café de Costa Rica) as a Geographical Indication

National Protection: Costa Rica has no registered GI for coffee but has included Geographical Indications and Denomination of Origin in the Law on Marks and other Distinctive Signs, 2000. To increase access to the international market with high quality products, iCAFE has established the program “seven regions, seven coffees”. In this program, important coffee regions with an individual profile were identified. However, it is still under discussion if a GI should be nation-wide or region-wide. But various national regulations…

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YOutube

Activision’s “Copyright strikes” spark outburst in Call of Duty gamers!

In a wide array of videos popular on YouTube, gameplay videos have quite a fan following. These videos involve gamers playing some of the most popular games, for viewers to watch. While copyrights over such games are reserved with the developers, they often face allegations of copyright infringement. YouTube, in its attempts to discourage such infringing videos, has introduced “copyright strikes” whereby the account flagged by the content owner for alleged infringement receives a copyright strike from YouTube restricting the…

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This image depicts the Open Source trademark, which comprises of a green keyhole with the words Open Source. this post talks about interesting developments in Open source technology. Click on the image to read the full post.

Open Source Software & the Government of India

The Indian Government recently released its policy on adoption and use of Open Source Software (OSS) for government projects. The policy seeks to cut costs and improve flexibility by using, implementing and contributing to OSS development. The policy mandates that preference in government software projects must be given to OSS, and Closed Source Software (CSS) must only be an exception when OSS is not available. The Preamble of the policy reads as follows: "Government of India (GoI) is implementing the…

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