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This image depicts a statue of Lord Shiva. It is relevant to the post, as the post talks about the possibility of trademarking the name of God! Click on the image to read the full post.

Trademarking the name of God? Huh! – Part 2

This post was published on September 04, 2014.   In this continuation post on legal aspects of trademarking god's name, we shall look into a few cases where Courts have discussed whether or not one can trademark God's name and therefore have monopoly in using God's name as an Intellectual Property. Usually, for a trademark used for a particular brand of goods or services, to be granted, it has to acquire secondary distinctiveness in its respective consumer market, and thus, one…
August 16, 2019 Intellectual Property, Trademarks 0Comment 1292Views 0Like
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Intellectual Property Protection for Computer Programs – Part III

This post was published on September 01, 2014.   In continuation to the previous post in this series, we will today be looking into copyright protection of computer software. As discussed in the previous post, Copyright Law came as an answer to the protection of computer programs at a time when the importance of Trade Secret Law for the same was dwindling. A computer program, being composed of source codes can be brought under the ambit of literary works in Copyright Law. The…
August 15, 2019 Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 527Views 0Like
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This image depicts Sound Captcha written over it with a red color background. This image is relevant as A patent granted to Towson University was granted this patent to validate captcha for blind person using their voice. Click on this image for more information

Sound CAPTCHA – Patents for the Blind 3

This post was published on September 01, 2014.   At one point, access to technology, especially the Internet, was only a dream for the visually disabled. For a long time, online tools were not accessible owing to either the lack of availability or high cost. But today, popular screen reading software applications like Job Access With Speech (JAWS) and open source screen reading software applications like NVDA are available for free. These applications allow a blind person to access a computer and…
August 15, 2019 Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 684Views 0Like
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This image depicts the 'Trademark' and 'Registered' symbols. This post is a part of a series on what marks are permissible as trademarks. Click on the image to read the full post.

Part I: Descriptive Marks – Can They be Protected?

This post was published on September 01, 2014.   In India, a Trade Mark means a mark capable of being represented graphically and capable of distinguishing goods or services of one person from those of others. These are the basic requirements for a mark to be eligible for Trade Mark protection laid down under Section 2(1)(zb) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. Apart from these qualifications, a mark should also not fall under the category of the marks mentioned under Section…
August 15, 2019 Intellectual Property, Trademarks 0Comment 695Views 0Like
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Patent Invalidation in the US: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

This post was first published on July 18, 2014.   After studying citations from patents that were invalidated by US Judges, researchers from the London School of Economics commented, "Patent invalidation has a significant impact on cumulative innovation in the fields of computers and communications, electronics and medical instruments (including biotechnology). We find no such effect in fields involving drugs, chemicals or mechanical technologies." Let us now take a look at why this discrepancy exists. What is patent invalidation?…
August 8, 2019 Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 878Views 0Like
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Claim Drafting – Transitional Phrases

This post was first published on July 17, 2014.   A transitional phrase is a part of the claim that connects the preamble and the body. The Transitional phrase determines as to whether a claim is “Open” “Partially Open” or “Closed.” Open Claim An Open claim includes additional unrecited elements i.e., if a claim, which is Open, recites elements A, B, C and D, then an article which includes elements A, B, C, D and E…
August 7, 2019 Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 2763Views 0Like
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Shouldn’t a Request for Prioritized Examination be Given Priority?

This post was published on September 17, 2014.   All applicants have a desire that their patent applications get prosecuted faster and their patents get a grant on priority, however, such desires are seldom fulfilled. Blame it on the backlog, if you will, and several other reasons for the delay, but patent applicants have to wait more than 3 years to get their patents granted. Empathizing with the concerns of the applicant, several patent offices have devised procedures to expedite…
August 7, 2019 Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 596Views 0Like
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Post-dating Patent Applications: Frisk it Before You Risk it!

This post was published on August 08, 2014.   Our previous article on post-dating exposed the risks involved in the shifting ahead of the priority date of an application. The risk of losing priority can cost you dearly. Today's post, however, unravels the puzzling question of how to claim priority even from a post-dated application! We are aware that most applicants tend to post-date a provisional application as the deadline to file a non-provisional application (or complete application, in some jurisdictions) approaches,…
August 6, 2019 Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 963Views 0Like
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Patent Claim Drafting – Preamble

This post was first published on July 16, 2014.   It would have been very well drummed into a patent professional, Mr. X, who has just started drafting a patent specification that “claims form the heart of a patent application,” or the “name of the game is claim,” and so on. Very few might agree with me if Mr. X has been told to carefully consider the words and/or features and/or the language used in the preamble, as…
August 6, 2019 Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 1763Views 0Like
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Music Copyright

Court Limits the Scope of ‘Fair Dealing’ under Copyright law

 This post was published on November 18, 2011. The Delhi High Court, in a recent decision, has held that usage of copyrighted works in television programmes such as an interview with the artist does not amount to fair dealing. Indian domestic television Channel India TV was sued by Super Cassettes and Yash Raj Films in two separate suits for infringing their copyrights. The two suits were clubbed since the defendant was the same and the cause of actions…
August 6, 2019 Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law 0Comment 558Views 0Like
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