On 30th June 2016, Canada became the twentieth nation to accede to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually impaired or otherwise print disabled, which will bring the Treaty into force in three months time on September 30, 2016. The ratifying countries will now be able to enjoy the benefits enshrined in the treaty that are meant to extend access to literature and information for print disabled persons. The Marrakesh treaty is…
Toyota, one of the leading giants in the automobile industry, sensed a huge relief when the Delhi High Court on 8th of July, 2016 delivered its judgment in its favour. This trademark dispute was pending in the court for seven long years, before the court found the defendants conduct to be dishonest.
The Delhi High Court in the case of Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha vs Deepak Mangal & Ors., CS (OS) 2490 of 2009, also known as the Prius Trademark…
Krishika Lulla & Ors. vs Shyam Vithalrao Devkatta & Anr.
[Criminal Appeal No. 258 & 259 of 2013 SC (Decided on 15.10.2015)]
Facts
Shyam Vithalrao Devkatta (Respondent), had authored a story named ‘Desi Boys’ and had registered the same with the Film Writers Association on 25.11.2008. Mr. Devkatta forwarded the synopsis of the story to his friend Mr. Ramesh Bhatnagar who further forwarded it one Mr. Ahsaan Sagar on 15.10.2009. Subsequently, Mr. Devkatta saw the promos of a…
Hello Readers! Hope you all had a great weekend. Let us take a quick look at what happened in the past week, with this Weekly Warm up.
Kriti versus Bob: Who owns the copyright?
This post discusses the recent copyright controversy between Kriti, a short film by Shirish Kunder and Bob, a short film by Aneel Neupane.The short film, Kriti, was uploaded on YouTube on June 22, 2016. This short film by Shirish Kunder had gained immense popularity within two days…
Recently , a European Court ruled in favour of US fast food giant McDonald’s, restraining a Singapore based company from using the word ‘Mac’ as a prefix on its foods and beverages. One of the primary aims of every trademark law is to prevent consumer confusion. Trademark law provides exclusive rights to the proprietors of a particular trademark, thus allowing them to carve out a niche for their product in the existing market.
In 2008, a Singaporean Company had applied…
This post discusses the latest development relating to the movie ‘Sultan’. The movie was released today, i.e.on 6.07.2016. Ahead of the release of the much awaited movie ‘Sultan’, Yash Raj Films approached the Bombay High Court ,seeking for an interim injunction to fight piracy. Yash Raj Films filed an application after they came across websites hosting several links to download the yet to be released movie ‘Sultan’. These links although dormant at the time of making the application are bound…
Kriti, a short film by Shirish Kunder, has been taken down by YouTube amidst a copyright controversy initiated by a filmmaker from Nepal, Aneel Neupane. The short film, Kriti, was uploaded on YouTube on June 22, 2016. The short film had bagged over two million views within 2 days. However, on June 24, Kriti found itself in controversy as Neupane updated a facebook status, openly accusing Kriti to be a copy of his short film, Bob. Neupane claimed that he…
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has recently published guidelines for examination of patent applications relating to pharmaceuticals.The guidelines have highlighted the need for examining pharmaceutical patents from the perspective of public health.The guidelines set by Prof. Carlos M Correa strongly recommend nations to set out specific and more stringent standards for pharmaceutical patents. The guidelines also encourage patent offices to exploit the flexibilities allowed by the TRIPS Agreement with regard to the aforementioned guidelines. In his foreword, Mandeep Dhaliwal,…
A lot has been discussed and speculated about the referendum “Brexit”. The UK has voted to leave the EU on June 23rd , 2016. This decision will have far reaching effects, including potential effects on intellectual property rights in the UK. June 23rd 2016, will be a landmark date in the European and British history.
Under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the UK must now notify the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the EU, which will…
Jury clears Led Zeppelin’s "Stairway to Heaven" from copyright infringement claim
A lawsuit alleging copyright infringement was brought against Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin group by Michael Skidmore. He alleged that there were similarities between the opening chords for 1971 song Stairway To Heaven and a composition called Taurus which was released four years earlier by a band called Spirit.
The US District Judge Gary Klausner had ruled in April that “Stairway to Heaven” bore “substantial” similarities with…