This post was first published on 3rd July, 2014.
As discussed in my previous post, the claimant of well knownness of a trademark is required to prove the popularity of the mark among relevant public by submitting cogent, clear and convincing documentary proof. In this post, we will be discussing the list of documents that the courts or the Trademark Office considers as valid proof for determining the well knownness of a trademark.
Although a hard and fast rule cannot be…
This post was first published on 10th June, 2014.
Trademarks are vital for the commercialization and growth of an industry. It is a valuable asset for a business entity as it acts as a link between the goods and the producer. It is through trademarks that consumers identify a particular product, as a result of which, it can be rightly said that the reputation of a company is built on trademarks.
As a brand gains popularity, it is subject to various…
This post was first published on 5th January, 2014.
The Hon’ble Delhi High Court delivered another thought-provoking judgment on the 16th of December, 2013 related to the pharmaceutical industry. The plaintiff in the present case is Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma Gmbh & Co., a German company with its principal place of business in Germany, whereas the Defendant is IPCA Laboratories Ltd., with its principal place of business in Mumbai.
The Plaintiff has been using the trademark MUCOSOLVAN since 1979 in 56 countries including India for pharmaceutical…
This post was first published on 11th August, 2013.
India has been officially notified as a member to the Madrid Protocol on 8th July 2013 joining 89 other countries including the USA and European Union.
What is Madrid Protocol
The Madrid Protocol is an international trademark filing system that provides a cost-effective and efficient way for individuals and entities to secure protection for their marks in multiple countries by filing one application with the Indian Trademark office. At present, there are a total…
This post was first published on 14th October, 2014.
As discussed in our earlier post, the Doctrine of Foreign Equivalents under the Trademarks Law requires the Trademark Office to translate foreign words to English in order to determine whether certain marks qualify for trademark registration or not. In this post, we are looking into whether the Indian Courts consider this doctrine an acceptable principle of the Trademark Law.
Indian Courts have not faced the question of applicability of this doctrine in many…
This post was first published on 2nd September, 2014.
If there is one question that can spark a controversy, it must be this - Is it possible to trademark the name of God?
Section 9(2) (b) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, which deals with Absolute grounds for refusal of registration, mandates that a mark shall not be registered as a trademark if it contains any matter likely to hurt religious susceptibilities of any class or section of the citizens of India.…
This post was first published on 8th September, 2014.
In continuation to the earlier post where we covered the US approach towards protection of descriptive marks, in the current post, we will be analyzing the circumstances in which descriptive marks can be protected in the EU.
The EU position towards descriptive marks is clearly stated under Article 7(1)(c) of the Council Regulation (EC) No. 207/2009, which is couched in the similar language as that of the provision in the Indian Trademarks Act 1999,…
This post was first published on July 10, 2014.
Now that we have had a look at the trademark filing process in the previous post, we will move on to discuss the trademark examination process.
The process followed in the trademark registration process may be seen in the flow chart below (please click on image to view clearly):
Continue Reading An In-Depth Look at the Trademark Registration Process – Part IV
This post was first published on 22nd June, 2012.
1. Have a business? Applying for a trademark is a sheer waste of time. You must already be busy with routine chores of the business. Thinking of adopting a mark and going through the entire process of getting it registered is just tiresome and unnecessary. Business will boom if it has to.
2. If you are thinking of a name for your mark, trying to adopt a descriptive name as your trademark will…
This post was originally published on 18th December, 2011.
Bayer and Cipla have recently settled trade mark litigation with respect to Advantage and Advantix trade marks. These trade marks were registered by Bayer at the USPTO and are being used for veterinary products. Cipla has been marketing one of its pet products under the trade mark, DA Double Advantage with the aid of an online supplier called Archipelago. Aggrieved by Cipla's actions, Bayer filed a suit in a US court…