A ‘Legal Issues Seminar’ (LIS) was conducted by Siddharth Varshney, Associate, on “Whether Parallel Importation of Literary Works is Permitted under the Copyright Act, 1957?”

The seminar touched upon jurisprudence on the legality of parallel importation of literary works under the Copyright Act, 1957 and whether India follows the national or international principle of exhaustion. The session saw questions from the team on whether the relatively settled position of parallel imports under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 will have an impact on parallel imports under the Copyright Act, 1957 as well.

The presentation can be accessed here.

During last week’s Practice Work Shop (PWS) Session, Hardik Choudhary, Associate, lead a discussion on the role of psychology in an organization’s IP risk strategy. The session saw active discussion on various approaches taken by companies in relation to IP risks and factors affecting their decisions. The discussion also delved into the role played by legal counsel in influencing a company’s IP risk strategy.

A Legal Issues Seminar (LIS) was conducted by Dishti Titus, Principal, on issues pertaining to ‘Grant of Anticipatory Bail in IP Offences’. The seminar focused on and discussed provisions, criteria and considerations for grant of anticipatory bail, and how various IP cases dealt with this question. The session also delved into the conundrum of cognizability of the offence of copyright infringement, and the consequent impact on determination of anticipatory bail. Interesting questions such as whether the criteria for grant of anticipatory bail in terms of IP Offences should be as stringent as that for other offences falling under the IPC were raised during the session.

The presentation can be accessed here.

During last week’s Practice Work Shop (PWS) Session, Sannidhi Mahapatra, Associate, lead a discussion on whether going solo is preferable to working at an established law firm. The session saw active discussion on the risks associated with independent practice vis-à-vis the benefits and challenges of working at an IP law firm, especially for fresh graduates. The discussion also explored the prospects of personal growth in both the arenas, given the technical nature of IP law.

A Special Legal Issues Seminar (SLIS) was conducted by Sunidhi Bansal, Associate and Pranay Bali, Principal, presenting the firm’s submissions made in response to the guidelines for “Influencer advertising on digital media” (draft for stakeholder consultation) published by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), in February, 2021. The Seminar provided interesting insights on the disclosure requirements for influencers while advertising on digital media, virtual influencers and disclosure responsibility for advertisements by them, the proposed guidelines and ALG’s comments and recommendations (accessible here).

The session concluded with interesting questions from the team on the applicability of the guidelines to international influencers and celebrities, the scope of definition of virtual influencers, and technical claims and puffery in social media advertisements.

The presentation can be accessed here.