During last week’s PWS Session, Abhilasha Rathore, Associate, led a discussion on “Whether AI Tools Can De-humanise the Trademark Registration Process”? The session began with a discussion on various kinds of AI tools available, their scope of use and relevance to the realm of IP. The discussion delved into significance of human creativity and faculty at different stages of trademark registration process and ways in which AI can aid this process. The members discussed the possible detrimental effects of AI tools such as inaccuracy, bias, unemployment, scams etc., and their impact. The session concluded with the members debating whether AI tools can eliminate the role of human input and the creativity in the trademark registration process.

Interns – Mahima Chanchalani (Pre-Final Year), Kirtika Shukla, Shivanshi Gupta, Dhananjay Sharma and Shreya Aggarwal (Final Year) have successfully completed their Internship at ALG. At the end of their internship, they obliged us with their thoughts and ideas during the Sharing of Reflections (SoR) session. Their presence enriched the firm while they interned here. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors.

A ‘Legal Issues Seminar- General IP’ (LIS-GIP) was conducted by Shivangi Tandon – Associate, titled “Are Industrial Drawings Capable of Being Protected as Copyrightable Works?”. The seminar delved into the relevant provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957 and its interplay with protection under the Designs Act, 2000. The seminar also elucidated the parameters set by various judicial precedents for an industrial drawing to qualify for design and copyright protection. The seminar concluded with a dynamic discussion on the extent to which industrial drawings can be considered as original artistic works and are capable of being protected under copyright law.

The presentation can be accessed here.

We were delighted to host Mr. Swaraj Barooah, Managing Editor of SpicyIP, as a part of ALG’s Guest Interview Series on ChatGPT: Infringement and Plagiarism yesterday, moderated by ALG Associate Sucharitha Banda. Mr. Barooah discussed the impact of technological advancements relating to AI on ethical and legal concepts of originality, authorship, plagiarism, enforcement, and copyright. His experience and insights on technology, law and policy made for an enriching and thought-provoking discussion. The session ended with an engaging Q&A segment and some collective brainstorming on possible tech and policy mechanisms against infringement in a post-ChatGPT world.

A ‘Legal Issues Seminar- General IP’ (LIS-GIP) was conducted by Anurathna Mathivanan, Associate, titled “Whether there is a threshold to determine ‘continuous use’ under the defence of prior use?”. The seminar analysed the relevant provisions under the Trade Marks Act, 1999, which provide the defence of prior use and its pre-requisites. The seminar also analysed judicial precedents that considered the criteria and threshold to determine the extent of use to be proved with evidence, to qualify as ‘continuous use’. The session concluded with an engaging discussion into the judicial trend in determining what constitutes as ‘use’ of a mark, and the criteria of determining the significance of use to claim goodwill generated under the mark.

The presentation can be accessed here.