Interns – Nadra Jawaid Mallick and Ananya Dutta have commenced their General IP Internship with the firm’s law practice.
We hope their stay in the firm during the 4 week period of their internship will be mutually enriching and that the firm and they will learn exciting things from each other!
A ‘Legal Issues Seminar- General IP’ (LIS-GIP) was conducted by Anurathna Mathivanan, Associate, on “Is ‘Degree of Control’ by the Proprietor a pre-requisite for a Valid Trademark License?”. The seminar analysed licensed use of registered trademark and the requirements of a valid trademark license as prescribed under the Trade Marks Act, 1999. The session delved into various judicial decisions that have considered the applicability of the requirements under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 to licenses that are entered into under common law. The seminar traced the various requirements of valid trademark licenses, as laid out by Courts, and the requirement to ensure a connection in the course of trade between the Licensor and the Licensee. The session concluded with an interesting discussion on the standard of quality control to be employed by the Licensor, and the control over licensee’s use of the trademark to ensure distinctiveness of the trademark.
The presentation can be accessed here.
January 26 marks India’s 75th Republic Day. At ALG, we take pride in and celebrate the values enshrined in our Constitution, which came into effect on this very day in 1950, and which make our country the diverse and vibrant democracy that it is.
Wishing all our colleagues, clients and friends a Happy Republic Day!
During last week’s PWS Session, Yash Raj, Associate, led a discussion on “Should Public IP Commons be created and funded by public taxes?” The session led with a discussion on if creating Public IP Commons funded by public taxes require a paradigm shift in how innovation is incentivised under the prevailing IP regime. The members discussed hypothetical scenarios where IP commons could be created and various stake-holders involved. The members discussed and debated on the potential administrative, ethical and privacy concerns involved in creation of such Public IP Commons funded by public taxes at intra-national and inter-national levels. The members delved into the role played by governments and international organizations in combating these challenges and probable measures which can be taken to address such concerns.
A ‘Legal Issues Seminar – General IP’ (LIS-GIP) was conducted by Devesh Kapoor, Associate, on ‘Whether Use of Trademark as a keyword by an Intermediary would amount to Trade Mark Infringement?’. The seminar explored whether the use of trade marks as a part of keywords, such as in their online advertisement programs by intermediaries amounts to infringement. The session delved into the relevant provisions of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and recent rulings by the Delhi High Court interpreting liability of intermediaries viz-a-vis use of trade marks as keywords. The session discussed varying observations made by the Indian courts and discussed whether the lack of visual representation of metatags and/or keywords to consumers would still constitute trade mark use and therefore, infringement. The session concluded with a discussion on the effects and impact of such use by intermediaries, such as initial interest confusion, switch-and-bait tactics and potential contributory infringement.
The presentation can be accessed here.
