Our Indian judiciary recently delivered a landmark development in intellectual property law by reviving passing-off suits filed by Crocs Inc. USA against major Indian footwear companies including Bata India, Liberty Shoes, Relaxo Footwears, Action Shoes, Aqualite Industries and Bioworld Merchandising. The case highlights evolving judicial thinking on the interplay between registered designs and common-law
Decades prior, if we’d say laboratories are designing animals – it would have come across as a shocker, however now designer pets and genetically modified animals are very much a reality. Laboratories are engineering animals to resist diseases, to glow or to remain miniature in size. However, the question here is how far
As an IP attorney, I couldn't help but notice a standout detail in The Royals on Netflix. Bhumi Pednekar plays Sophia Shekhar, a sharp, no-nonsense CEO of a fictional company with a name that immediately caught my attention - Work Potato. A clever twist on “couch potato,” the phrase captures the spirit of modern
How to Restore a Patent in India: In India, the term of a patent is 20 years from the date of filing, as per Section 53 of the Indian Patents Act. Once granted, a patent must be maintained by paying annual renewal fees, starting from the third year onwards. Failing to do so can
The landscape of computer-related inventions in India is undergoing a significant transformation with the release of the Draft Guidelines for Examination of Computer-Related Inventions (CRI) 2025. For years, patent practitioners have grown accustomed to routine objections under Section 3(k) of the Indian Patents Act whenever applications involve computer programs or software components. The rapid
Introduction India, with its vast agricultural heritage and diverse agro-climatic zones, has always been at the forefront of plant breeding and crop improvement. In recent decades, the significance of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in the field of plant varieties has grown tremendously. The introduction of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR)
The Bombay High Court, on 10th June, 2025, upheld the decision of the Assistant Registrar of Trademarks in the case of TikTok Limited v. The Registrar of Trademarks, Mumbai & Anr, rejecting the application filed by the Petitioner/TikTok to include their registered trademark in the list of well-known trademarks in India. In the present
In today's competitive marketplace, MSMEs need more than just good products and services; they need strong intellectual property portfolios. Effective IP management has become a crucial tool for building globally efficient and competitive small businesses. The market value of any enterprise, including MSMEs, is increasingly determined by its IP assets and how strategically they
In India, Registered copyright societies have the right to carry on the business of granting or accepting licenses in respect of any work in which copyright subsists according to section 33 of the Copyrights Act, 1957. However, there are organisations like the Phonographic Performance Limited(‘PPL’) which, although do not have a valid subsisting registration
The ongoing copyright dispute between Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar and composer A.R. Rahman has sparked significant debate around the intersection of intellectual property law and Indian classical music. The case revolves around the song Veera Raja Veera from Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan 2, which Dagar alleges is an unauthorized copy of Shiva Stuti, a