Category: Stance

Recently Apple Inc. (“Apple”) was sued by Rohit Singh, a local software developer, in the Delhi High Court for passing-off. The suit emanated from Apple’s use of the term SPLITVIEW as the name of a feature of its recently launched software. As the term suggests, the SPLITVIEW feature gives users the ability to split the...

The law on trade marks requires all trade mark applicants to state whether their applications are based on proposed use or use. If an applicant bases an application on use, the law on trade marks requires the application to state a first use date in dd/mm/yyyy form. However, there is nothing in the law that...

IP owners have long preferred the High Court in Delhi for filing lawsuits involving their property.  This preference is based on a number of factors, including savvy judges who have long been exposed to intellectual property issues, the court’s willingness to grant ex-parte orders (without a defendant’s appearance) and expertise of lawyers.  A very recent...

In recent times the Trade Marks Registry has introduced an e-filing portal through which most documents, including trade mark applications, can be filed quite easily. Here are the requirements to file in India and some tips to ensure that your applications sail smoothly through to examination: Mark: If the mark is a logo mark, it...

Nestle’s recall of the iconic MAGGI noodle brand continues to make news in India! India’s food regulator, The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (“FSSAI”), has determined that Nestle’s MAGGIE noodle packaging did not comply with the Food Safety Standards Act, 2006 (“FSSA”) and the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011...

Start-up’s seem to be springing all over India. Our busy schedules combined with growth and the spread of the internet has added impetus to this growth. We know have start-up’s offering services from the delivery of furniture to the delivery of groceries. Numerous start-up’s make it big in time and the success stories are many...

A recent judgement pronounced by the Delhi High Court on May 19, 2015, would have come as a huge relief for international fashion brand ZARA. In this case, the owners of the fashion brand ZARA filed a suit for infringement and passing of their well- known brand ZARA against the owners of a restaurant in...

India witnessed its first ever food recall last week when Nestle S.A.’s famed MAGGI noodles were recalled from store shelves on the ground that some packets of the noodles have a higher than permissible lead content. MAGGI, a 100-year brand, was introduced in India in 1982.  Soon it became a household name, particularly in today’s...

On 11 May 2015, the Delhi High Court pronounced a judgment on the relatively long drawn battle between two brothers involving use of the SHRI RAM surname in connection with educational institutions. [SRF FOUNDATION & ANR. V. RAM EDUCATION TRUST (CS (OS) 1980/2014)].  See judgment here.  The plaintiff had filed the lawsuit on 8 July...

India has a well-developed system of oppositions to registrations of trade marks.  All oppositions must be filed at one of the five (5) Trade Marks Registry (“Registry”) offices located in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad.  The office in which the opposed application has been filed determines the office in which the opposition must be...