During last week’s Practice Work Shop (PWS) Session, Sneha Tandon, Associate, lead a discussion on whether higher education or practical experience is a better aid to professional success as an IP practitioner. The session saw active discussion on prospects for an LLM degree holder, cost-benefit analysis of pursing higher education in IP, and whether the stereotype that LLM is best suited for career in academia still holds good.

A ‘Legal Issues Seminar’ (LIS) was conducted by Shreya Kunwar, Trainee Associate, on issues such as related to IP in Literary Works, IP in Comics & Computer Programs.

The seminar particularly touched upon whether movie titles are protectible under copyright law in India, whether there are substantial IP laws in place for protection of comics and whether Graphical User Interface (GUI) should be protected under the Copyright Act or the Designs Act in India. The areas covered in the seminar garnered a lot of interest and concluded with an engaging discussion on the need to have a settled position in India with respect to the protection of Graphical User Interface.

The presentation can be accessed here.

During this week’s Practice Work Shop (PWS) Session, Sunidhi Bansal, Associate, lead an interesting discussion on whether the IP regime in India needs to change to accommodate the evolution of a new kind of social media influencer, viz. the virtual influencer. The session saw active discussion on who or what constitutes a virtual influencer, the ensuing liability concerns, and IP rights in content created by such influencers.

ALG’s Dishti Titus, conducted three sessions in the Virtual School for Intellectual Property organized by FICCI in association with CIPAM from February 26 – March 12, 2021. Her sessions covered – ‘Understanding the Procedure of Trademark Opposition in India’, ‘Geographical Indications – Procedure of GI Registration in India’ and ‘Basic Concepts of Trade Secrets – What is a Trade Secret & Some Famous Examples’.  

A Legal Issues Seminar’ (LIS) was conducted by Krithika Muthuraman, Associate, on issues such as related to Social Media & Networking, Gaming and IP in Artificial Intelligence.

The seminar particularly touched upon whether Governmental Orders for takedown of posts/accounts on social media are violative of the freedom of speech and expression, whether Online Fantasy Sports are prohibited as amounting to “gambling” and whether AI generated ‘Deepfakes’ would be entitled to copyright protection. The session concluded with an engaging discussion on the position of fantasy sports vis-à-vis agreements by way of wager and on the current compliance obligations of Social Media Intermediaries with Governmental Orders.

The presentation can be accessed here.