Rajasthan High Court Rules Timely Disposal of Trade Mark Applications Guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution
In 2010, the Petitioner filed a trade mark application for the mark BREASTONE. However, the application remained pending for over fifteen years. Consequently, the Petitioner filed a writ petition before the Rajasthan High Court seeking directions from the Registrar of Trade Marks to process the application. In this case, the Court observed that the […]
Delhi High Court Grants Protection to EBC’s Distinctive ‘Coat-Pocket’ Trade Dress
Recently, Eastern Book Company (EBC) filed a suit against another publisher to protect its distinctive trade dress in its ‘coat-pocket’ edition of the Constitution of India. The Plaintiff has been offering ‘coat-pocket’ editions since 2009. These editions feature a signature black-red color combination, specific font style, gold leafing, and thin bible paper, which has […]
Color Combination Entitled to Protection Upon Acquiring Secondary Meaning
The Plaintiff is a company engaged in the sale of beauty, skincare, personal care, and baby products, under the brand DERMA CO. The products are offered with a distinctive two-tone color combination packaging. They came across the Defendants using a similar two-tone color combination packaging for their skincare products under the brand DERMA TOUCH. […]
Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) Issued Guidelines for AYUSH Related Inventions
On September 23, 2025, the CGPDTM released the Guidelines for Examination of AYUSH Related Inventions (‘Guidelines’). These Guidelines are aimed at providing clarity on the filing and processing of patent applications for inventions related to traditional and non-codified healthcare systems, including Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Sowa-Rigpa, Homoeopathy, and Yoga & Naturopathy. The Guidelines complement the […]
Delhi High Court’s Division Bench Clarifies Scope of ‘Use’ under Trade Marks Act, 1999
In 2023, the Appellant had filed an application to restrain the Respondent from using the PRINCETON and PRINCETON UNIVERSITY marks for their educational institutions. The learned Single Judge held that the Appellant’s use of the PRINCETON mark in India was insufficient and the use shown was by third-parties, rather than the Appellant itself. Taking […]
Bombay High Court Imposes Costs on Plaintiff in Copyright Infringement Suit
The Bombay High Court dismissed a copyright infringement suit filed by Ashim Kumar Bagchi against the makers of the film, DREAM GIRL 2. The Plaintiff alleged that the Defendants had unlawfully copied his original script, which he had previously shared with them in confidence. He claimed that the film bore substantial similarity to his work […]
Delhi High Court Dismisses Copyright Infringement Suit against Government’s APAAR ID Project
The Petitioners filed a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution seeking a writ of mandamus against the Union Government, for the alleged unauthorized use and infringement of their original project titled SPAN (Student Permanent Account Number). The petition claimed that their project was copied and implemented as the Government’s APAAR ID (Automated Permanent Academic […]
Delhi High Court Orders Blocking of Sci-Hub and Sci-Net for Breach of Undertaking
In 2020, multiple international publishers alleged copyright infringement through Sci-Hub, a platform that provides free access to pay-walled academic and scientific research papers. Consequently, during the proceedings, the founder, Alexandra Elbakyan gave an undertaking stating that no new articles in which the publishers held copyright would be uploaded or made accessible via Sci-Hub. However, […]
Supreme Court Reaffirms That Trademarks Must Be Assessed In Their Entirety
Recently, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal seeking to restrain the sale of whisky under the brand LONDON PRIDE. The Appellant, the manufacturers of well-known brands BLENDERS PRIDE and IMPERIAL BLUE, alleged that the Respondent’s use of the word PRIDE in their products, combined with similar colour scheme, bottle shape, and packaging, amounted to […]
PISCO GI Tag to be Used by Both Chile and Peru with Clear Geographic Identifiers
In 2018, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) granted the GI tag for PISCO exclusively to the Embassy of Peru. However, the Delhi High Court analyzed the concept of homonymous GIs, i.e. GIs that may be identical/similar but originate from different regions and applied it to this case. The Court noted that both Chile […]