A ‘Special Legal Issues Seminar-General IP’ (SLIS-GIP) was conducted by Shreya Kunwar, Trainee Associate, on ‘The Choice Between and the Possibility of Combining – A Contempt Petition under the Civil Procedure Code and under the Contempt of Courts Act’ . The seminar delved into the concept of contempt under the two statutes and the different circumstances in which a party can approach a court of law to initiate contempt proceedings. Reliance was placed on relevant judicial pronouncements to understand the current legal position in India regarding contempt proceedings. The session concluded with an interesting discussion on the whether contempt proceedings can be initiated simultaneously under the two statutes, and if there is a preferred statute under which contempt proceedings can be initiated in IP matters.

The presentation can be accessed here.

ALG’s Partner Ashwani Balayan has been appointed to serve as Vice-Chair of the Asian Practice Committee of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO). The Asian Practice Committee (APC) reviews notable developments and informs the IPO’s position on intellectual property acquisition, licensing, and enforcement issues in Asia. APC prepares IPO’s comments on new IPR laws and policies in Asia, as well as organizes high-level IP Innovation Dialogue visits to Asia.

IPO is an international trade association representing a “big tent” of diverse companies, law firms, and individuals in all industries and fields of technology that own, or are interested in IP rights. IPO advocates for and promotes high quality and enforceable IP rights and predictable legal systems for all industries and technologies. Read more about IPO here.

ALG’s Managing Partner Sheja Ehtesham has been appointed to serve as Co-Chair of International Trademark Association’s (INTA) “IP in Space” select project team. This one year project will review the cutting-edge subject on how Intellectual property is and could be protected in outer space.

The project team will review current “space” treaties, current IP treaties which might be extended to space, possible new specialized IP treaty proposals, current and possible new national laws which deal with this subject, and enforcement mechanisms such as new IP offices, litigation, and arbitration.

INTA is a a global association of brand owners and professionals whose membership comprises nearly 6,500 organizations from 185 countries. INTA works to foster effective laws and policies worldwide on trademark and related rights. Learn more about INTA at www.inta.org.

A ‘Special Legal Issues Seminar-General IP’ (SLIS-GIP) was conducted by Shilpa Margaret Kurian, Trainee Associate, on ‘Reliefs in IP Cases that are Prematurely Sought versus Those that are Founded Legitimately on Anticipatory-Apprehension’. The seminar delved into the concept of ‘relief’ and the different reliefs provided for under the Specific Relief Act, 1963. Reliance was placed on relevant judicial pronouncements to understand the circumstances under which the courts of law may determine a particular relief being sought by an aggrieved party to be premature or otherwise founded on legitimate anticipatory apprehension. The session concluded with some interesting questions on the scope of reliefs under the Specific Relief Act, 1963 and reliefs provided in the Copyright Act, 1957 and Trade Marks Act, 1999.

The presentation can be accessed here.

During last week’s Practice Work Shop (PWS) Session, Shreya Kunwar, Trainee Associate, led a discussion on whether Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is a better mechanism vis-à-vis traditional court systems for resolving IP disputes. The session witnessed an engaging discussion on various types of ADR mechanisms, including Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) and the advantages and disadvantages thereof. The session also delved into the extent of digital literacy in India and the need for the requisite infrastructure for conducting ODR smoothly. The session concluded with some interesting exchange of views on whether TM Office disputes can be successfully resolved through ADR mechanisms.