ALG’s Sheja Ehtesham will be attending the 36th MARQUES Annual Conference in Madrid, Spain next week from September 20-23. This year’s in-person conference will see a high-level exchange of insights between experts from different countries on how sustainability and new technologies will shape the future of brands. The conference sessions will cover Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain; digital dispute resolution; virtual/augmented reality and deep fakes; branding innovative products; and enforcement in the metaverse.

Recently, ALG’s cinephiles came together in person and virtually, to discuss Damián Szifron’s thriller-comedy drama ‘Wild Tales’. The members discussed the emotions experienced by the characters and the progression of these emotions, which are complex and sharply edged in social satire, through the six segments of the movie. The members shared their blended thoughts on the reactions of the characters in different situations, all driven to the edge of reason. The movie prompted the members to introspect on the real-time everyday emotions experienced by them and their plausible reactions.

ALG Partner Ashwani Balayan will be attending the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) Annual Meeting 2022 in Los Angeles from September 17-20. A long-standing IPO member, Ashwani serves as Co-Vice Chair of the Asian Practice Committee of IPO, and Chairs the India Sub-Committee. Ashwani will also be representing IPO in the 32nd NGO Coordination Meeting which will be held on Sep 10 during AIPPI in San Francisco.

This year IPO is celebrating its 50th Anniversary. The Annual Meeting will see a range of high-level educational programs on issues covering trade secrets, AI related inventions, best practices & trends in IP, designs & trade-dress, IP in metaverse, diversity in innovation,IP in GUIs & software design, ethics in IP, etc.

A ‘Legal Issues Seminar – General IP’ (LIS-GIP) was conducted by Shubham Singh, Trainee Associate, on “Can Trade Secrets Be Protected By Confidentiality Clubs?”. The seminar explored the concept of trade secrets and their essentials as well as of confidentiality clubs. The seminar further delved into the relevant rules under the Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules 2018 and the Delhi High Court Intellectual Property Rights Division Rules 2021 in conjunction with the divergent views taken by courts to determine whether trade secrets can be accorded due protection by confidentiality clubs. The session concluded with an interesting discussion on the role of independent experts as opposed to in-house counsels and the measures that may be undertaken by the Courts to ensure the safe disclosure and dissemination of trade secrets.

The presentation can be accessed here.

During last week’s Practice Work Shop (PWS) Session, Tanisha Agarwal, Associate, led a discussion on “Does Keyword Advertising Result into Piggybacking on other Brands?” The session saw an insightful discussion on the benefits of keyword advertising and the concept of piggybacking.
The session also delved into whether such piggybacking has an adverse impact on competition in the relevant market. The session concluded with different views on whether there is a need to develop a threshold to decide what types of keyword advertisements lead to piggybacking.