Intellectual Property

India’s ace badminton player PV Sindhu created history by winning a bronze medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics held recently, joining the ranks of a select few who have one more than individual medal in the history of the games. ......

The Designs office has now made its register electronically available, thus joining the ranks of the Patents E-register, making the database of registered designs available in entirety. ......

In the first part of this two-part series, we offered a brief overview of NFTs and their applicability in the art world. This second part discusses the copyright and other related legal implications surrounding NFTs. ......

The business of purchasing art is traditionally associated with the sale of unique, physical objects whose source was verified by galleries, auction houses and, typically, a trail of paper, to distinguish an original from a copy. In the physical world, you can simply go and buy a painting that you wish to hang on your wall. ......

As intellectual property disputes grow in number in India, corresponding questions arise regarding the most appropriate adjudicating authority to be approached for redress. Besides regular courts, IP disputes also occasionally make their way into arbitrations. But the circumstances under which IP disputes can be referred to arbitration are not always clear. ......

An anti-suit injunction is an order by the court which restricts a party from filing or continuing with proceedings in another court, including foreign courts, with regard to the subject matter of the suit. When courts are approached by a party seeking an anti-suit injunction, they generally establish a ‘forum conveniens’, i.e., determine the most appropriate forum to decide upon the dispute. ......

One of the first questions that comes to the mind of an artist or a creator, as soon as a work is created, is how can the work be protected. Is protection available only if the work is “registered”, or does protection follow automatically from the time of its creation? The issue of whether copyright registration is compulsory or not is a long standing one; and due to various conflicting judgements in India, artists and creators have always been uncertain about this matter. ......

Licensing and franchising intellectual property (IP) offer strategic competitive advantages to a brand. Franchising is a situation where a franchisor controls and supervises the exploitation of a trademark while allowing the use of the tradename, the get up and the reputation and goodwill associated with the trademark. ......

There are several ways in which evidence can be gathered in intellectual property (IP) suits, including through discoveries and cross examinations. Discovery takes place pre-trial, where parties can exchange information regarding the evidence and witnesses to be presented to the court. ......