Tag: Estoppel by Acquiescence

The ethics of intellectual property has always been a highly debated issue, and spans a range of issues, not least around what kind of patentable subject matter can be regarded as ethically permissible. Jurisdictions, including India, try to tackle this issue by legislating for it in the laws, and excluding inventions that may be morally questionable, but such laws are inherently subjective, and open to interpretation. This note examines the questions that have arisen around inventions related to the tobacco industry in India in this context....

Time and again, it has been held by various courts that an unreasonable delay in enforcing a legal right by a person amounts to acquiescence, which can be fatal to a case for the grant of an interim injunction. In a recent trademark case, the High Court of Delhi reiterated that the Plaintiff, being aware of the Defendant’s adoption of a similar mark, did not bother to conduct due diligence about the use of the mark; as a result of which the Plaintiff was bound to suffer the consequences of delay in seeking injunction. ...