Delhi High Court To Hear Vivek Oberoi, Janhvi Kapoor, Aaradhya Bachchan Personality Rights Suits Together

The Delhi High Court has decided to hear the personality rights suits filed by actors Vivek Oberoi, Janhvi Kapoor and Aaradhya Bachchan together, as they raise recurring questions on the scope and limits of personality rights. Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani said he would first hear these three matters as a batch and use the legal principles emerging from them to deal with the other pending personality rights suits separately. The court is dealing with a growing number of such suits filed by...

Centre Can Use Power Under Patents Act To Make Exorbitantly Priced Drugs Affordable: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on Monday held that Section 100 of the Patents Act permits the Central Government to use a patent to manufacture a medicine and sell it to a needy patient on a non-commercial basis. It further held that the provision is required to be invoked where a patented medicine is being sold at an exorbitant price.“The provisions of Section 100 impose no restriction on who the purchaser could be,” Justice Harisankar V. Menon held. “When that be so, the provisions under Section 100...

Delhi High Court Restrains Doora Express Services' Former General Manager From Using 'DURA' Mark

The Delhi High Court has restrained a former General Manager and his logistics company from using “DURA” for logistics and transportation services. The court found prima facie merit in Doora Express Services' claim that the mark is similar to its registered “DOORA” trademarks.Justice A.J. Bhambhani passed the order in a suit filed by Doora Express Services against Dura Logistics India and its director.Doora Express Services is the registered proprietor of the trademarks "DOORA," "DOORA EXPRESS...

'There Should Be A Separate 'META Court': Delhi HC Judge Jests As Another Instagram Copyright Case Lands In Court

The Delhi High Court judge hearing a copyright dispute involving a content creator and Meta remarked in jest that “there should be a separate court, a META court, funded by META” after yet another Instagram copyright-strike dispute came up before the court.Justice A.J. Bhambhani made the oral remark while hearing Jitender Singh's suit against Meta and other defendants over copyright strikes on his Instagram account.The court declined to pass a blanket order protecting Singh from future copyright...

Drishti IAS Founder Vikas Divyakirti Moves Delhi High Court Seeking Protection Of Personality Rights

Vikas Divyakirti of Drishti IAS has moved the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights, The suit was listed on Thursday before Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav The court directed that the matter be transferred to a coordinate bench already dealing with personality rights disputes, rather than proceeding before it.Divyakirti, the founder of Drishti IAS, a UPSC coaching institute, filed the suit through counsel who told the court that it seeks protection against three...

Calcutta High Court Sends ITC Trademark Suit To Mediation, Says FIR First Weakened Urgency To Claim Waiver

The Calcutta High Court has refused to dispense with pre-suit mediation for ITC Limited's proposed trademark infringement and passing off suit against SMM Tobacco Private Limited. The court found that ITC had chosen to pursue the criminal remedy first while keeping its civil remedy in abeyance, even though both remedies could have been pursued simultaneously. Justice Arindam Mukherjee on September 8 directed that the plaint be returned for being filed after completion of pre-suit mediation...

Delhi High Court Grants Temporary Injunction Against Unauthorised Use Of Bentley Software

The Delhi High Court has passed an ad interim injunction in favour of Bentley Systems, a US-based infrastructure software provider, restraining a structural design services firm and its directors from allegedly infringing copyright in its engineering software.Justice A. J. Bhambhani passed the order on a suit filed by Bentley Systems Inc and its Indian subsidiary.The software programmes at issue in the case are RAM Concept, iTwin Analytical Synchronizer, iTwin Services Add-in, and STADD. The...

Delhi High Court Issues Notice To Trade Marks Registrar Over Delay In Deciding MakeMyTrip's Well-Known Mark Plea

The Delhi High Court has issued notice on a petition filed by MakeMyTrip India Limited seeking a direction to the Registrar of Trade Marks to decide its pending application to have "MakeMyTrip" declared a well-known trademark.The petition was filed after the application remained undecided for over six years. Justice Vikas Mahajan passing the order on September 21, recorded: “Ms. Nidhi Raman, CGSC who is present in Court has been asked to accept notice. Let Ms. Raman seek instructions.”MakeMyTrip...

Delhi HC Dismisses Challenge To Copyright Suit Over Rajasthan Temple Made To Look Like Guruji's Bade Mandir

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a challenge to a Saket commercial court order refusing to reject a copyright and passing-off suit filed by Guruji Ka Ashram Trust over allegations that a temple-like structure in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, imitates its Bade Mandir in Delhi.P.J. Sikand, who operates the Rajasthan premises, had sought rejection of the Trust's suit at the preliminary stage. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav observed that the objections raised by Sikand required...

Actor Rakesh Bedi Moves Delhi High Court Seeking Protection Of Personality Rights

Actor Rakesh Bedi has moved the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights.The matter was listed before Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani on Wednesday, but upon mentioning, was sent to another bench dealing with Intellectual Property Division (IPD) matters. No further details of Bedi's suit are available at this stage, and the case is expected to be taken up before the appropriate bench in due course.Bedi's move adds to a growing list of personality rights suits before the Delhi...

Madras High Court Grants GRB Dairy Foods Leave To Sue Rival Ghee Brand Over Disparaging Instagram Reel

The Madras High Court has granted GRB Dairy Foods leave to file a suit against Sri Lakshmi Industries, the company behind "NG Ghee," over an Instagram reel that GRB says makes false and disparaging statements about its GRB-brand ghee.Justice K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi passed the order on September 17.GRB Dairy Foods manufactures and markets food products, including ghee, under the "GRB" brand, and claims to have built substantial goodwill over several decades of business. Sri Lakshmi...

Trademark Owner As Director Of Applicant Company Not Enough To Seek Rival's Name Change: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High court has quashed two MCA orders directing companies run by Kandamkulathy Francis Paul to change their names after K. P. Pathrose Vaidyan's Kandamkulathy Vaidyasala Pvt. Ltd. sought rectification of their names under Section 16(1)(b) of the Companies Act.Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas held that the company seeking the name changes did not itself hold the registered “Kandamkulathy” trademark. It therefore could not maintain the applications under Section 16(1)(b) of the Companies...