A ‘Legal Issues Seminar-General IP’ (LIS-GIP) was conducted by Hardik Choudhary, Associate, on “Are Motion Trade Marks Protected?”. The seminar delved into the evolving protection of unconventional marks, particularly focusing on motion marks. The seminar specifically looked into the statutory provisions relating to graphical representation, the views of the Trade Marks Registry, and discussed the need for clarity on motion marks drawing parallels from other jurisdictions. The session concluded with some interesting questions and discussion among the team, including what approach can be taken to ease the requirement of graphical representation of motion marks.

The presentation can be accessed here.

A Special Legal Issues Seminar (SLIS) was conducted by Sannidhi Mahapatra, Associate and Dishti Titus, Principal, presenting the firm’s submissions made in response to the Draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021 published by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in June 2021. The Seminar provided interesting insights on the proposed amendments including additional age-based certifications, revisionary powers conferred on Central Government, provisions for prohibition of piracy, and ALG’s comments and recommendations (accessible here).

The session concluded with interesting questions from the team on the applicability of the guidelines to OTT platforms, the reasons behind further sub-division of age-based certification, and possible implications of the revisionary powers of Central Government.

The presentation can be accessed here.

Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) invites Ashwani Balayan for its panel discussion on “Compulsory Licensing and Related Issues – A Global Perspective” during the upcoming IPO Annual Meeting 2021. A long standing member of the Asian Practice Committee at IPO, Ashwani will be presenting the Asian perspective on the panel.

Details about the session and other programs of IPO Annual Meeting 2021 are available below. The IPO is offering 25 education sessions in the Annual Meeting this year. The LIVE meeting will take place from September 19-21 in Austin, TX, and the virtual portion will take place from September 28-30.

IPO link can be accessed here.

During last week’s Practice Work Shop (PWS) Session, Sri Lekha Rayapati, Associate (General IP) led a discussion on whether take-down notices are an effective recourse against IP infringement on the Internet. The session saw an engaging discussion with attorneys sharing their experience with filing take-down notices and expressing their views on the advantages and disadvantages of the current take-down mechanisms that websites and social media platforms have in place. The session also saw some interesting insights on what can be done to make the these mechanisms more effective.

A ‘Legal Issues Seminar-General IP’ (LIS-GIP) was conducted by Aishwarya Pande, Associate, on “Can a Joint Author of a Copyrighted Work Independently Exploit Rights in it?”. The seminar delved into the evolving meaning of joint-authorship of copyrighted works, particularly in the digital era where collaborative creativity has become a trend. The seminar specifically looked into the statutory provisions relating to joint authorship, highlighted gaps, and discussed how clearly setting out the rights and obligations of each individual author will help foster future creative endeavours. The session concluded with some interesting questions and discussion among the team, including what approaches can be adopted to avoid disputes among joint authors in the absence of adequate statutory provisions.

The presentation can be accessed here.