In their first in-person meeting in a long while, ALG’s Book Club members recently got together in the office to discuss Kazuo Ishiguro’s futuristic novel ‘Klara and the Sun’. The novel places readers inside the mind of a humanoid robot named Klara, an artificial friend designed for children. The discussion began with a dissection of various plot points and the narrative style, and then delved into how humans and AIs may deal with the feelings of compassion, faith, loneliness and fear in a rapidly evolving world.

The discussion concluded with a reflection on the meaning of humanity, and whether AIs may possibly end up being more ‘human’ than us in the future.

A ‘Legal Issues Seminar-General IP’ (LIS-GIP) was conducted by Shreya Kunwar, Trainee Associate, on “Whether the Relief of Rendition of Accounts can be Clubbed with the Relief of Damages in IP Disputes?”. The seminar explored the concept of rendition of accounts and the different types of damages that are granted by courts in IP disputes. The session specifically delved into the reliefs provided under Section 135(1), Trade Marks Act, 1999, and Section 55, Copyright Act, 1957, and how they may be sought in light of the judicial trend, as well as the circumstances in which these reliefs have been granted simultaneously. The session concluded with interesting questions on the scope of exceptional circumstances when the relief of rendition of accounts can be awarded by the courts and the demarcation of how these reliefs are provided at the discretion of the courts vis-à-vis the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and Copyright Act, 1957.

The presentation can be accessed here.

During last week’s Practice Work Shop (PWS) Session, Sannidhi Mahapatra, Associate, led a discussion on “Should the show cause hearings at TM registry be conducted physically?”. The session saw an insightful discussion on the mode of hearings both physical and virtual and the advantages and disadvantages associated with it. The discussion explored intriguing ideas on how to streamline the process of online hearings viz. reducing wait time for applicant by giving them specified time-slots. The session concluded with a debate on whether both the systems should co-exist, affording the applicant/attorney to choose his/her preferred format.

ALG’s Pranay Bali will be speaking on ‘Challenges to Intellectual Property Rights in the Metaverse and their redressal’ at National Law University, Jodhpur’s webinar organized by its Centre for IP Studies. The webinar will cover the challenges to intellectual property in the metaverse from various stand points, including monitoring infringement, enforcing rights, data protection, and also the governing statutory and regulatory framework.

The webinar is live on April 9, 2022 at 11:00 am and is open to students, in-house counsels and legal practitioners, members of academia and the industry, and anyone else with an interest in the subject. To attend, please register here.

A ‘Legal Issues Seminar-General IP’ (LIS-GIP) was conducted by Sannidhi Mahapatra, Associate, on “Do Moral Rights Vest in Trademark Owners over Modification or Alteration of Packaging?”. The seminar explored concept of moral rights for copyright owners and their possible extension to trademark law. The session specifically delved into how the provision of Section 30(4), Trade Marks Act, 1999 could be interpreted to include the moral rights of owners over any change or impairment to product packaging, in light of relevant judicial decisions. The session concluded with interesting questions on the liability of intermediaries such as e-commerce websites for the sale of products under tampered packaging and whether the current judicial interpretation can suffice in its applicability.

The presentation can be accessed here.