Delhi High Court Flags Misuse Of Meta's Copyright Strike System, Calls It 'Platform For Extortion By Bad Actors'

The Delhi High Court has recorded Meta Platforms' assurance that it will ensure user accounts are not blocked due to fraudulent copyright strikes, while observing that the platform's current enforcement mechanism has become a tool for "blackmail" and "extortion." Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani made the observations while hearing two separate suits filed by content creators Mohammed Nawaz Shaikh and Prateek Sahni. The matters reached the Court after the plaintiffs' accounts or videos were taken...

Letters Patent Appeal Not Maintainable Against Single Judge's Order Under Trade Marks Act: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court has ecently held that a Letters Patent Appeal (LPA), an intra-court appeal before a Division Bench, is not maintainable against a Single Judge's decision in a statutory appeal under Section 91 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.Holding so, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D.N. Ray said such appeals are barred by Section 100A of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), read with Clause 15 of the Letters Patent. The bench also held that Parliament's...

Bombay High Court Rejects EYETEX DIVYA Owner's Plea Against DIVYAM Trademark

The Bombay High court has dismissed a plea by Aravind Laboratories to cancel the registration of a device mark using the word "DIVYAM". It held that the company cannot claim exclusive rights over the word "DIVYA" merely because it forms part of its registered mark "EYETEX DIVYA".Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan observed that the distinctiveness of the company's registered marks comes from the "EYETEX" prefix and not the standalone word "DIVYA.""It is evident that the dominant feature of the...

Delhi High Court Restrains Unknown Entities From Impersonating Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, Officials

The court also ordered WhatsApp to remove the fraudulent groups and suspend the identified profiles within 36 hours of receiving the order.

Delhi High Court Temporarily Restrains Aurore Life Sciences From Manufacturing, Selling Ruxolitinib In Patent Suit

The Delhi High Court has temporarily restrained Aurore Life Sciences Pvt Ltd from using, manufacturing, stockpiling, importing, offering for sale, selling, or exporting pharmaceutical products containing Ruxolitinib, a prescription drug used to treat myelofibrosis, a form of bone marrow cancer, in a patent infringement suit filed by Incyte Holdings Corporation and two others.Justice Jyoti Singh passed the ex-parte ad interim injunction after holding that the patent holders had made out a prima...

Delhi High Court To Order Takedown Of Content Infringing Yuvraj Singh's Personality Rights

The Delhi High Court has indicated it will pass an interim order directing takedown of content infringing cricketer Yuvraj Singh's personality rights, while giving uploaders 48 hours to remove the material before intermediaries are asked to step in.Justice Jyoti Singh was hearing a suit filed by Yuvraj Singh on Wednesday seeking protection of his personality rights.Counsel for the cricketer took the Court through a list of infringing links as they stood the previous day, stating that two of them...

Trade Marks Registry Cannot Remove Trademark Without Mandatory Notice: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that the Trade Marks Registry cannot remove a registered trademark from the register without first complying with the mandatory notice requirement under Section 25(3) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. Justice Shoba Annamma Eapen observed that the Registry was required to issue mandatory notice before removing the mark and held, "In the absence of compliance with the mandatory requirement of issuance of such notice under Section 25(3) of the Act, 1999, the respondents...

Delhi High Court Temporarily Restrains Uttarakhand University From Using 'Maharaja Agrasen' Name In Trademark Dispute

The Delhi High Court has restrained Maharaja Agrasen Himalayan Garhwal University, Uttarakhand, from using the name "Maharaja Agrasen" in any manner till the next date of hearing, holding that its adoption of the name was mala fide and dishonest.Justice Jyoti Singh passed the interim order in a suit filed by Maharaja Agrasen Technical Educational Society (Regd.), which runs several institutions under the "Maharaja Agrasen" family of marks.The plaintiff submitted that it is a charitable society...

Delhi High Court Temporarily Restrains Ahmedabad Firm From Using VOLVO Trademark For Elevator Parts

The Delhi High Court has granted an ex parte ad-interim injunction restraining Ahmedabad-based elevator components manufacturer Shree Vishwakarma Engineering Works from using the mark "VOLVO" or any deceptively similar mark in relation to elevator components. Justice Jyoti Singh passed the order on July 22 in a trademark infringement suit filed by Swedish automotive company Aktiebolaget Volvo and its group companies. The Volvo group said it adopted the trademark and trade name "VOLVO" on...

Delhi High Court Dismisses Parle's Appeal Against Rival Biscuit Maker's '20-20' Trademark Registration

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed Parle Products Pvt. Ltd.'s challenge to the registration of the trademark "20-20" in favour of a rival biscuit manufacturer. It held that, in the present registration dispute, Parle's subsequent commercial use of the mark could not defeat the rival company's earlier trademark application.A Division Bench of Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora observed that the rival company's non-use of the mark for several years was...

Delhi High Court Orders Meta To Share User Details, IP Logs In Suit Over Fake Copyright Strikes

The Delhi High Court has directed Meta Platforms Inc. to furnish subscriber information and IP logs relating to people alleged to have misused its copyright reporting system to extort digital content creator Mohammed Nawaz Shaikh.Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani passed the order in a suit filed by Shaikh against unidentified persons. The plaintiff alleged that one of them operated through fabricated identities.Shaikh filed the suit seeking a permanent and mandatory injunction to restrain...

Delhi High Court Seeks Centre, Meta's Reply On PIL Alleging Misuse Of Instagram Copyright Strike Mechanism

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Union of India, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Meta Platforms Inc. and the Government of NCT of Delhi in a public interest litigation alleging that Instagram's automated copyright-strike mechanism is being exploited by organised cyber criminals to extort digital content creators.A Division Bench of Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora sought responses from the respondents on the plea filed by content creator Nitin...