Madras High Court Issues Notice On Plea To Stop Telugu Dub Release of Mohanlal's Drishyam 3

Film production company Rajkumar Theatre Pvt. Ltd. has approached the Madras High Court seeking to restrain the producers and director of Malayalam movie “Drishyam 3."When the case came up before the vacation court, Justice V Lakshminarayanan admitted the plea and issued notice to the defendants. Notices have been issued to Aashirvad Cinemas (producer of the movie), director Jeethu Joseph and Panorama Studio, which has acquired the worldwide theatrical and digital rights of the movie. The...

Delhi High Court Restrains Two Rivals From Using Marks Similar To 'Schezwan Chutney'

The Delhi High Court has restrained Fivestar Dehydration Pvt Ltd and another from using the mark 'Schezwan Chutney' or deceptively similar variants. It held that merely inserting the word 'Hot' between 'Schezwan' and 'Chutney' would not distinguish the rival products for an average consumer. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the ex-parte ad-interim order on May 14 in a suit filed by Capital Foods Private Limited, an associate of the Tata Group. The suit seeks permanent injunction against...

Delhi High Court Permits Trademark Renewal After Six Years, Faults Registry Over Defective Renewal Notice

The Delhi High Court has allowed trademark proprietor Rajinder Singh to file a fresh renewal application for his “B.P.R.” mark despite a delay of over six years. It held that the Trade Marks Registry could not rely on technical procedural non-compliance after having consistently sent communications to his updated address. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela ruled the Registry could not take such a stand after its own conduct showed it had recognised the changed address. “Once the Trade Marks...

Delhi High Court Grants Temporary Relief To Hugo Boss Against Delhi Trader Over Sale Of Alleged Fake Bedding

The Delhi High Court has recently granted temporary relief to Hugo Boss AG in a trademark infringement suit against a Delhi trader operating as Panipat Handlooms. The court restrained him from manufacturing and selling products such as luxury bedding, linen, and bath towels bearing allegedly infringing BOSS and HUGO BOSS marks. Justice Jyoti Singh passed the order on May 14 in the suit against Shubham Jain, who operates from Ashok Vihar in Delhi. Hugo Boss told the court that Jain was...

Delhi HC Directs AI+ Smartphones Founder To Appear Over Alleged Suppression In Injunction Against TechWiser

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the personal appearance of Madhav Sheth, founder of NxtQuantum Shift Technologies India Pvt Ltd, trading as AI+ Smartphones, after hearing allegations that the company suppressed material facts and used incorrect contact details while obtaining an ex parte injunction against tech reviewer Prateek Rai of TechWiser. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the direction while hearing Rai's application seeking vacation of the April 28 order restraining him from...

Bombay High Court Orders Meta To Suspend SWISSTOURS Trademark-Infringing Instagram Account

The Bombay High Court has ordered Meta to suspend an account accused of infringing the 'SWISSTOURS' trademark after finding that the handle continued operating despite an earlier restraining order. Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh, in an order passed on May 4, directed the social media platform to take all steps within its power to suspend, lock, or disable public access to the impugned Instagram handle after noting that it remained active despite an ad-interim injunction granted in December last...

Madras High Court Refuses To Reject Seven Arts' Copyright Suit In Hera Pheri Remake Rights Dispute

The Madras High Court has dismissed filmmaker Firoz Nadiadwala's plea seeking rejection of a copyright infringement suit filed by Seven Arts International Limited. The suit concerns alleged remake rights to the Malayalam films Ramji Rao Speaking and Mannar Mathai Speaking, which Seven Arts claims form the basis of the Bollywood Hera Pheri franchise. Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy passed the order on April 24. Seven Arts claimed in the suit that it acquired remake rights to both films through...

Madras High Court Restrains MRF's Former Dealer, Another Delhi Entity From Using Its Trademark

The Madras High Court has granted temporary relief to MRF restraining two Delhi-based entities from using its trademarks in relation to their business after MRF alleged that one of them continued displaying the marks at trade exhibitions despite a written undertaking not to do so. Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy passed the order on April 29 in a suit filed by MRF seeking relief for alleged trademark infringement, copyright infringement, and passing off against Conveyo Belt Centre and Shri Ram...

Delhi High Court Quashes Unreasoned Patent Refusal To AbbVie, Flags Inconsistent Maintainability Findings

The Delhi High Court on 29 April set aside an order of the Deputy Controller of Patents and Designs refusing a patent application filed by Abbvie Ireland Unlimited Company, holding that refusal orders must be reasoned and that divisional applications cannot be rejected on inconsistent maintainability grounds without proper analysis of the record. Justice Jyoti Singh quashed the order and remanded the matter for fresh consideration. She observed: “Refusing a patent application is a serious...

Copyright Registration Cannot Be Granted Automatically If No Objection Is Filed: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has recently held that copyright registration cannot be granted merely because no objection is received within the statutory period, holding that the Registrar of Copyright must independently verify the correctness of the application before granting registration. Interpreting the Registrar's obligations under the Copyright Rules in cases where no objection is received to a registration application, Justice Arindam Mukherjee observed, “On a conjoint reading of the...

Delhi High Court Says Regoshin Healthcare's Online Presence Sufficient To Let Trademark Suit Proceed In Delhi

The Delhi High Court has recently refused to return a trademark infringement and passing off suit filed by Amritsar-based businessman Ravinder Singh against Regoshin Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. and others. Singh has alleged infringement of his registered 'ROYAL' and 'ROYU' trademarks through the use of allegedly deceptively similar marks for pharmaceutical and allied products. Justice Jyoti Singh held that, at the threshold stage, the court was required to proceed on the basis that the averments in...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside Rejection Of JFE Steel's Patent For Electrical Steel Sheet Manufacturing Method

The Delhi High Court has set aside a patent rejection order passed against JFE Steel Corporation. It held that the Controller of Patents should ordinarily not reject a patent application on a single technical ground while leaving other objections undecided, as such an approach could unfairly consume the limited 20-year patent term through repeated remands and appeals. A bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela observed that patent applications must be considered as a whole. It said the Controller...