High Court
How Can Trademark Registry Restrict Use Of A Mark Without Reasons, Gujarat High Court Orally Asks?
The Gujarat High Court on Friday (January 16) orally questioned the Registrar of Trademarks on why the adjudicating authority had permitted advertisement of a trademark in the Trademark Journal with restrictions, without recording any reasons for imposing such conditions. Justice Niral R. Mehta was hearing an appeal arising from a 2020 order of the trademark authority, which had conditionally accepted an application for registration of the “Family Farms” logo with the tagline “Ye Ghar Ki Baat...
Bioreactor Invention Involving Human Embryonic Stem Cells Not Patentable: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court has upheld the Patent Office's refusal to grant a patent to US-based biotechnology company Viacyte Inc., holding that the claimed bioreactor invention was primarily directed at biological material, including human embryonic stem cell-derived aggregates and therefore fell within non-patentable subject matter under the Patents Act, 1970.In a judgment dated January 16, 2026, a Single-Judge Bench of Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur, affirming the decision of the Deputy Controller...
Complete Assignment for Consideration Prevails Over Conditional Agreement for Transfer of Future Shares: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court upheld an arbitral award involving a long-standing family dispute over shares in a demerged company. Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan held the arbitral tribunal's decision—that a later sale to a bona fide purchaser takes precedence over an earlier conditional arrangement—to be a plausible and well-reasoned conclusion. Background: The dispute arose from intra-family transactions within the Somani family concerning entitlement to 9.06% equity shares of Shreeniwas House...
Gauhati High Court Stays GST Demand On Flats Given For Free To Landowners
The Gauhati High Court on 7 January stayed coercive action pursuant to a GST demand raised on flats provided free of cost to landowners under a development agreement. A Bench of Justice Soumitra Saikia was hearing a writ petition filed by a developer challenging a consolidated show cause notice issued under Section 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST), covering multiple financial years from 2017–18 to 2022–23. The notices proposed a levy of GST on flats handed over free of...
'Karta' Personally Liable if HUF is Unable to Satisfy Arbitral Award: Bombay HC
The Bombay High Court has declared that a 'Karta' has a personal and unlimited liability for satisfying unpaid arbitral dues of a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), thereby enabling creditors to proceed against the Karta's private assets without a separate decree.In a major boost for award creditors, the Bench of Justice R.I Chagla has held that the "seat court" retains the jurisdiction to execute an arbitral award and provide interim relief, even if the judgment debtor's assets are situated outside...
Statutory Bar Under Commercial Courts Act Operates As Inherent Subject Matter Limitation In Arbitration: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court has held that the statutory bar in the Commercial Courts Act operates as an inherent subject-matter bar in arbitration related proceedings and cannot be waived by consent or conduct of the parties, even if no objection is raised before the court of first instance.Justices Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Supratim Bhattacharya made the observation on January 13, while deciding an appeal filed by Siddharta Chandra challenging an order passed by the District Judge, Hooghly,...
Reference to Arbitration Requires Independent Application, Cannot be Inferred from Plea to Reject Plaint: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court recently rejected a Master's summons application filed by M/s Samman Capital Limited, that sought stay of a commercial suit on the grounds of an existing arbitration clause.Master's summons under the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) refers to a court order (summons) compelling a party to appear, often to provide documents or information relevant to an insolvency proceeding or specific case issues.The Court emphasised that for a dispute to be referred to arbitration, the law...
Andhra Pradesh High Court Upholds 200% VAT Penalty On Trader For Bogus Bill Trading
The Andhra Pradesh High Court has upheld a penalty equal to 200% of the tax imposed on an iron and steel trader for issuing false tax invoices without actual movement of goods to facilitate wrongful availment of input tax credit. A Division Bench of Justice R. Raghunandan Rao and Justice T.C.D. Sekhar dismissed a writ petition challenging a penalty of Rs 50.52 lakh levied under Section 55(2) of the Andhra Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005, for the period from June 2014 to June 2016. The...
Patent Opposition Board Recommendations Are Advisory, Not Binding Decision: Madras High Court
The Madras High Court has refused to step in midway in a patent dispute over a cancer drug, holding that a recommendation made by the Opposition Board during post-grant opposition proceedings is only advisory and does not create anu valid binding rights. Dismissing the writ petition filed by two foreign pharma firms, Justice N. Senthilkumar said the patent holders must place all their objections before the Controller of Patents, who alone takes the final call.The court was hearing a...
