Du IP Café

Maya, a brilliant young engineer, had finally cracked it. After months of relentless research and countless failed prototypes, she'd invented a revolutionary solar-powered water purification system. It was compact, efficient, and affordable, promising to bring clean water to millions in developing countries. Overjoyed, Maya immediately started sketching her invention, jotting down notes, and documenting every detail. She knew that protecting her invention was crucial, but the process seemed daunting. "Patent application? Legal jargon? Deadlines?" The words themselves felt overwhelming. Maya knew she needed expert guidance. She consulted with a patent attorney, a seasoned professional who patiently explained the intricacies of the patent process. The attorney emphasized the critical importance of timely filing. "The first to invent rule," he explained, "is a complex legal concept. In many jurisdictions, the first to file an application, even if someone else ...

It is easy to get caught up in the allure of networking events, flashy conferences, and headline-making activities. Many devote significant time and resources to visibility, ensuring their names are on the latest guest lists and plastered across social media. This can be effective in gaining recognition and nothing against doing it.   However, I believe that the true path to building a lasting legacy lies in focusing on substance over flash. The commitment to understanding the unique needs of our clients and delivering meaningful results defines the firm. We immerse ourselves in the complexities of every case, whether it’s safeguarding intellectual property or navigating intricate corporate disputes.  At the end of the day, the legal landscape is not a popularity contest. The clients who matter most recognize and appreciate the firms that prioritize substance.  In a world full of noise, we choose to make an impact through excellence, not extravagance. ~until next tim...

 In the rapidly evolving landscape of intellectual property rights (IPR), staying ahead of the curve is not just advantageous—it's essential. To equip students and aspiring legal professionals with the knowledge and skills they need in this dynamic field, Dr. D.Y. Patil Law College, Pimpri, Pune, in association with MakeIntern and the E-Cell of Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, recently organized a power-packed three-day training program that delved deep into the intricacies of Intellectual Property. I had the privilege of contributing to the program's success wherein shared I got to share practical knowledge making the sessions engaging and relevant. The program was designed to be intensive, spanning 18 hours over three days. It covered a wide range of topics, from Patents Law to Trade Marks Law, Trade Secrets, and beyond. What set this program apart was its commitment to providing practical insights, ensuring that participants left with not just theoretical knowledge...

Past few years especially the last decade has seen unfathomable changes in the technology landscape. Suddenly, everything has started to become a near possibility. Technology is and will continue playing a significant role in the future of work which is evident with the widespread use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation and other relevant technologies. With the ever rising population all across the globe and the advent of technology, the fear has started to scale in almost everyone's mind that the machines are going to consume the jobs. The advent of technology has caused shifts in the types of jobs that are available, as well as changes in the way that work is organized and performed. For example, remote work and flexible work arrangements have become more common. At this juncture, it is difficult to predict the future of work with certainty, as there are many factors that can influence the direction of the workplace. The future of work is likely to be char...

The title certainly looks catchy but hold on and read further.. The so called IP practitioners who don't have an iota of understanding of IP Laws have flooded the market and dooming Applicants. Once they manage to file applications somehow, they have no clue how to prosecute further and take it till the registration stage. Applicants become stuck and have nowhere to go under such circumstance as they have already paid for the entire process.   Recently, one such Practitioner got stuck with Section 9(1) objection under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and also had to file TM-M and had no clue what to with TM-M and how the objections are tackled or responded with.  Someone is trying to disrupt the market with provisional patent filing in just Rs. 2000/-. How low can it get, I keep on wondering. Filing a provisional patent application seems a joke for such practitioners as they do not care about inventors and how these inventors hold their inventions close to their heart. Some Pate...

Trade Marks registration process in India has seen enormous changes in past 2-3 years. The number of Forms have been reduced from 64 to 8. The examination time has reduced from 2 years to 5 working days - believe it or not but its true and one of the fastest all over the world!   However, the change in law or rules has not impacted some common misconceptions that are prevalent among business owners about the Trade Marks. Thought it would be good to address them here: 1. I don't need to perform search..My Trade Mark is Original in toto Applicants commonly believe that the trade name they thought is distinctive enough and don't see any need to get a search done or to get an opinion from a practitioner. Let me say something unpleasant that the name you want to trademark probably isn’t as original as you think it is, at least not in the eyes of the Trade Marks Registry. Every year, thousands of trademark applications are rejected without refunds because they too closely resembl...

Copyright comes with a bundle of rights in India. Even though the registration of Copyright isn't mandatory, it serves as a proof of ownership and/or prima facie evidence before the Court of law during enforcement of such Copyright.  Lot many changes (pleasant changes) in functioning of Copyright registry have been observed in past five years. Digitization of records and process has been on top of all changes.  The Government of India has recently released the Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021 on 30th March 2021. The primary objective of such an amendment is to bring the existing rules in parity with other relevant legislations and at par with technological advancements. Sharing only relevant highlights of the amendment and its effects as below:- 1. Changes concerning the filing of applications for registration of Software Program Copyright: Earlier the Copyright Rules mandated submission of the entire Source Code and Object Code while filing an application for registration of...

In a very lucid judgment in the case of S.D. Containers vs. Mold-tek Packaging Limited (Civil Appeal No. 3695 of 2020), the Supreme Court of India decided the matter clearing the air of doubt on the interplay of the Design Act, 2000 and the Commercial Courts Act, 2015. Relevant facts on background of the case -  Mold-tek Packaging Limited (hereinafter Plaintiff/Respondent), a manufacturer and seller of plastic packaging material who obtained design registration for its container's lids, jars etc. in 2015 and 2017. In late 2019, the Plaintiff/Respondent came to know about S.D. Containers (hereinafter Defendant/Appellant) who allegedly infringed design of the Plaintiff/Respondent. The Plaintiff/Respondent filed a civil suit before the Commercial Court at Indore seeking permanent injunction against the Defendant/Appellant from copying and using the design of the Plaintiff/Respondent as described in Design Application No. 299039 and 299041 for the containers and lids, respectively. The...

Though writing should be a regular affair when it comes to blogging but professional commitments intertwined with family responsibilities do not really leave much room to do so! What sparked this blog was the conundrum surrounding the Computer Related Inventions (CRIs) and their patentability in India in light of Section 3(k) of the Patents Act, 1970. In December 2019,  the Delhi High Court in Ferid Allani vs. Union of India (2019 SCC Online Del 11876) examined the rejection of a patent by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) to a CRI and held that most inventions of the present era make use of computer programs and therefore, it would be discriminatory to reject a patent application to such inventions for merely making use of computer programs in its functioning. The Court further held that a patent application is to be evaluated with respect to its technical contribution. However, the Court did not elucidate a definition of what can be construed as an invention exhibi...

My first encounter with First Examination Reports (FER) issued by Indian Patent Office (IPO) happened during my internship in 2014 where i observed patent applications roughly took 4-5 years to get examined and another 1-2 years to get a grant post examination. Considering the limited period (20 years) for which patent rights are granted, prosecution time of 5-7 years was quite unusually high. Things improvised and became much swift after IPO appointed more patent examiners. Still the average time taken by a patent application to proceed towards grant was high. For the individual inventor-applicants, the problems faced were altogether on different level. They essentially lost interest in getting patent for their invention due to long duration of prosecution and costs involved thereof. Another measure to address the issue was taken and The Patent Rules were amended in 2016 to introduce the provision of expedited examination for an applicant who is either a start up or the applicant ...

For Doordarshan, Lockdown has certainly extended an unprecedented opportunity to revive the good old golden days and to increase TRP (Television Ratings Point) to great heights!  On public demand, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Shaktimaan serials are being telecast by Doordarshan. I have been watching the all time epic series "CID" these days and while watching one of the episodes discussed about patenting of a device which triggered a series of thoughts concerning IP rights into different aspects of movies, TV serials, music videos etc. However, what caught my attention was the creative and thoughtful titles of the episodes such "Pracheen Fingerprints"..What's in a name? Shakespeare had written. But here everything is in a name..from brand name, movie titles, book titles to name of a person! A movie title can be protected by way of registration with associations such as the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association (IMPPA), the Association of Motion...

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma Gmbh vs. Tanmed Pharma India Pvt. Ltd . C.S.No.282 of 2019 and and A.No.3184 of 2019 in High Court of Judicature Madras The plaintiff and its Indian subsidiary filed this civil suit alleging infringement of its product patent “Linagliptin” by the defendant stating that the defendant violated granted patents bearing nos. 243301 and 227719 by launching, making, using, offering for sale, selling, importing and / or exporting the medicinal product, Linagliptin. The Defendant in its written statement stated that it did in fact obtained license to manufacture the drug “Linagliptin Tablet” from the department of Drug Control and in December 2017. However, it did not manufacture the said drug. On receipt of suit summons, defendant surrendered the license to the Drug Controller vide letter dated 27.05.2019 and stated that there remained no cause of action which could sustain the said suit.  An Advocated appointed as Commissioner...

In an interesting turn of events a couple of months before, Alphonso has been granted a Geographical Indication and in a much celebrated event later, the Certificate of Registration was granted to the Applicant(s) in Delhi in the hands of Hon'ble Commerce Minister.  I had blogged about the issue earlier here and here and here ..! Going by the facts there are three applicants who have sought to register Alphonso Mango as the Geographical Indication, namely- Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth (Appl. No. 139), Devgad Taluka Amba Utpadak Sahakari Sanstha Maryadit (Appl. No. 379), and Kelshi Parisar Amba Utpadak Sahakari Sanstha Maryadit (Appl. No. 497). Appl. No. 139 sought protection of Alphonso Mango on a wide GI area which includes few districts of Gujarat, Konkan region of Maharashtra, North Karnataka and State of Goa. Later the Application was amended and GI area was confined to the limits of Konkan region of Maharashtra. Appl. No. 379 sought protection of Devgad cultiv...

The fresh morning run uphill in Pune reminded me KGP somehow and I went back in time... It was 2 a.m. when I first entered IIT KGP campus, it was raining cats and dogs and I didn't have any place to stay. One of the students helped me out and I survived. Since then it's been an endless pursuit of many things... In this pursuit, I never realized when I fell in love with this campus and the energy it has! When it comes to describing KGP and the feelings attached to it...words often fail me. Its been over 42 months since I graduated from IIT and all the memories of three years spent there are as fresh as an invigoratingly fresh air.. Whenever i visited campus, as any KGPian would do, I did rounds of 2.2 until it dawned. In February, 2017, i visited the campus again like a true patriot and history repeated itself with each cup of freshly brewed tea! With each round of 2.2, memories were flashing by..We were all singing songs at 2 a.m. in the night and there was no on...

Branding your brand does not and must not mean that you copy somebody else's brand name and get a free ride upon their good will.  Trademark law is very clear in this aspect while keeping two most essential pre-requisites before registering a trademark as - 1. Trademark has to be distinctive; 2. Trademark must not be descriptive. Lot many brand owners make mistakes in understanding the concept of distinctiveness and start using brand names which are similar to the already existing trademarks which are famous. Making minor changes here and there either in spellings or color combinations or finding a rhyming words to the existing trademarks does not yield distinctiveness to your brand name. Some of the brand owners knowingly make use of such deceptively similar marks and then get sued.  In one of such interesting cases in Delhi High Court, the Court has ruled in favor of Starbucks who filed a case against a local coffee shop chain SardarBuksh for copying word m...

In this post (which I wrote long back), I have summarized the landmark judgment delivered by the Supreme Court. Here it goes - The Novartis Patent Saga  The Zimmerman patent in 1993 - disclosed the imatinib free base – this patent was not granted in India because India did not provide for pharmaceutical patents prior to 1995; A publication in 1996, which referenced imatinib mesylate; The 1998 patent application (Application No.1602/MAS/1998) before the Indian Patent Office which claimed the beta-crystalline form of imatinib mesylate. What is claimed- beta crystalline form, better thermodynamic stability, lower hygroscopicity (comparison was made to alpha crystalline form) Application lay dormant – mailbox procedure – since patent law was in transition – appellant made an application for grant of EMR u/s 24A of the Act – EMR granted Nov. 10, 2003 Jan 1, 2005 – Application taken out of mailbox - attracted five pre-grant oppositions in terms of section 25(1) of...