A ‘Legal Issues Seminar-Patents’ (LIS-PAT) was conducted by Harshit Parasher, Trainee Associate, on “Is Software Without Modification of Hardware Patentable under The Indian Patent Law?”. The seminar delved into the relevant provisions of the Patents Act, 1970 and CRI Guidelines 2017. The seminar specifically explored the requirements of “technical effect” and “technical contribution” for software to be patentable, and whether “per se” used in Section 3(k) of the Patents Act, 1970 puts a blanket ban on its patentability. The session concluded with interesting questions from the team on the criteria of “inventiveness” and the concept of “technical effect”, the overlap of the copyright and patent regime and the implementation of the CRI Guidelines, 2017 in jurisprudence.

The presentation can be accessed here.

Recently, ALG Attorneys got together online to welcome the newest additions to the team – Tanisha Agarwal and Abhilasha Rathore, in an interactive ice-breaker session. The Attorneys put their guessing skills to test and played a fun round of ‘The Whisper Challenge’. The Attorneys also solved a bunch of brain racking yet fun puzzles to escape virtual mystery rooms.

During last week’s Practice Work Shop (PWS) Session, Shilpa Margaret Kurian, Associate, led a discussion on whether smart contracts can effectively protect original creations in the virtual world. The session saw an engaging discussion on how smart contracts can be used to warn a user attempting to misappropriate the digital creations. The session also delved into the possible terms that may be included in smart contracts, challenges that may erupt with their implementation, and how these challenges may be overcome keeping in mind the rights and interests of creators.

ALG’s Nayantara Malhotra recently moderated a round table discussion on ‘Union Territories’ as part of the larger discussions on the Executive, Legislature And Judiciary, organized by Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Narendra Jadhav at New Maharashtra Sadan, New Delhi. The event involved an engrossing exchange of experiences, anecdotes and diverse views of various young professionals on the three organs of the government. In addition to moderating a discussion, Nayantara also participated in discussions on the role and powers of the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, State Governor, Chief Minister, Gram Panchayats, the Judiciary, etc.

A ‘Legal Issues Seminar-General IP’ (LIS-GIP) was conducted by Aishwarya Pande, Associate, on “Does the Test for Determining Infringement of Corporate Name/ Trade Name Differ from That of a Trade Mark?”. The seminar delved into the relevant statutory provisions on infringement of a trademark by virtue of its use as a trade name. The seminar specifically explored the tests for infringement applicable to trade marks and trade/corporate names, and whether these differ from each other. The seminar also saw a discussion on the conditions for infringement under Section 29(5), Trade Marks Act, 1999, and which if not satisfied would provide an alternative recourse under Section 29(4), Trade Marks Act, 1999. The session concluded with interesting questions from the team on the possible remedies available to a registered proprietor against an infringing corporate name and whether a passing off action can be claimed in such cases.

The presentation can be accessed here.