This is a rundown of last week’s news updates on eCommerce & Licensing:
Rummy & Poker now declared as games of skill.
In a huge win for gaming companies offering online card games, the Madras High Court stated that Rummy and Poker are games of skills. Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy presided over the case of Junglee Games India Pvt. Limited and Rahul Nandkumar Bharadwaj Vs. The State of Tamil Nadu and Ors. (W.P. No. 18022 of 2020) and struck down the Tamil Nadu and Police Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021. The court held that card games like rummy and poker cannot be banned by the said legislation. The Order stated that the activity of betting or wagering or gambling implies an element of speculation on the happening of a certain event, whether or not the persons involved in betting or wagering, or gambling have any control over the event as long as there is some element of prize to win for forecasting the outcome of the event.
Premas Biotech and Oravax Medical Inc. sign licensing deal for its vaccine technology against Delta variant.
In a huge step towards the development of oral vaccines for COVID-19, Oravax has out- licensed Premas Biotech for the right to develop the injectable version of the virus like particle (VLP) for development and commercialisation in India with the aim to address the urgent need of effective vaccines against the Delta variant. If successful, this will help in better protection against the various variants of the much-dreaded novel Coronavirus. It will especially prove to be beneficial for the third world countries who are yet to vaccinate their population.
ShareChat and Moj: New songs to sing.
ShareChat and Moj (short- video app) lead the path by becoming the first and only Indian social media and short video platform to sign a multi-year and multi-national agreement with the music label major T-Label. This will provide them access to Indian music and thus putting the Indian music industry on the world stage. Mohalla Tech, the parent of Moj and the Indic language social media platform ShareChat, announced their partnership with T-Series, and the partnership aims to provide more value to the Indian music industry, exposure to more artists and create a unique experience for the viewers.
InterDigital and Xiaomi shake hands over worldwide licensing agreement.
Xiaomi, the global smartphone major strengthens its position in the market by signing a licensing agreement with InterDigital, Inc., a mobile and video technology research and development company. The agreement is a multi-year, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty bearing license with Xiaomi. One of the terms of the license is to agree to dismiss all pending patent litigation and other legal proceedings between the two companies. “We are very pleased to conclude this agreement with Xiaomi which recognizes our long-term investment in research and innovation in standards-based technologies and the strength and breadth of our patent portfolio across several key technologies,” said Eeva Hakoranta, Chief Licensing Officer, InterDigital. Xiaomi now intends to laser-focus on introducing innovative products to the market.
CAIT hints at protests over any derailment of e-commerce rules.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the non-governmental apex body of trading community of India at National Level has addressed a letter to Consumer Affairs Secretary Leela Nanadan cautioning that any dilution in the proposed e-commerce rules will be met with massive protests. The entire e-commerce community is eagerly waiting for the implementation of the proposed rules under the Consumer Protection Act. The CAIT National President B C Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal stated that the strongly worded letter was sent to ensure that the rules are rolled out smoothly and without any dilution. These rules will further the initiative of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The current rules also aim at protecting the small fishes of e-commerce from the sharks. ”There is no fear of law since so far they have been given free hand to carry out anti-competitive and anti-consumer activities by exploiting the loopholes in the Indian laws and regulation and thereby dominating the e-commerce trade, as no action was taken against them by various Government departments for their misdeeds in the past,” they asserted.
ONDC to be made more accessible and inclusive: Som Prakash.
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a project initiated by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry has recently been restructured. ONDC helps to create a platform that can be utilised by online retailers and helps to make the e-commerce process available free for all. The ONDC aims at curbing “digital monopolies”. ONDC uses open specifications and open network protocols independent of any specific platform to promote open networks. The Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Som Prakash stated in the Lok Sabha that Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is to get revamped to ensure active participation from local areas. “Consumers can potentially discover any seller, product or service by using any compatible application or platform, thus increasing freedom of choice for consumers,” he said in a written reply. “Thus, ONDC would standardize operations, promote inclusion of local suppliers, drive efficiencies in logistics and lead to enhancement of value for consumers,” he said. The ONDC aims at promoting open networks developed on open- source methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols, independent on any specific platform.
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