Intellectual Property

In a landmark judgement in Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd. v. Amway India Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. & Others, FAO(OS) 133/2019, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court has permitted e-commerce platforms to sell and advertise products of Direct Selling Entities ("DSEs") without their consent....

On 16 January 2020, the European Patent Office (EPO) Board of Appeal revoked a patent related to CRISPR/Cas9 technology, and in doing so delivered one of the most anticipated decisions in the field of biotechnology patents in recent times. This gene-editing technology, which is the subject of a bitter battle for intellectual property rights between two rival parties - The Broad Institute and the University of California (UC), Berkeley, is revolutionizing research in biotechnology....

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the way we live and engage with the world. Besides smart devices (phones, speakers), and self-driving cars, AI is also set to revolutionize biotechnology and the health sector. Deep learning algorithms are being used in areas such as genomic data analysis, cellular profiling and characterisation which find use, for example, in cancer diagnosis, drug design and pharmacology, genome sequencing, and protein structure prediction. ...

In today’s hyper-connected world, social media influencing is one of the most impactful and effective ways of marketing and advertising. But while many of us are familiar with the hashtag culture and the drill used by social media influencers – ‘like’, ‘share’, ‘comment’ and ‘subscribe’, we do not necessarily understand who an influencer actually is....

In a major change for the registration of designs in India, articles will now be classified in accordance with the Locarno system, further to India’s formal accession to the international treaty in mid-2019. Applicants will benefit hugely from this, as they will now have access to a single classification system in India and other countries that are parties to the treaty....

The Government of India recently announced draft amendments to the Design Rules and Patent Rules with the primary objective of encouraging startups and small entities to protect their intellectual property. The proposed changes include new definitions of “startups” in the design rules (to align with corresponding changes on the patents and trademarks side), and significantly reduced filing and prosecution fees for startups and small entities. ...

On November 21, 2019, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, or DPIIT) issued a notification notifying the approved Bilateral Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Programme between the Indian Patent Office (IPO)and the Patent Offices of other interested countries/regions. As of now, the PPH programme has been agreed upon and signed between the IPO and the Japan Patent Office. ...

In a world where science and technology evolve at an exponential pace, it is essential that the institutional systems that support the evolution of these industries also keep up with the pace. But the Indian patenting system has been often criticized over the years for its slow and long drawn out processing time. This processing pace naturally affects the quality and quantity of applications as well, and it is possible that foreign innovators or entities may be losing interest in filing for patents in India for this reason....

All Startups start with an idea. An idea that solves an existing problem in a unique way. If your idea is truly unique, you could potentially be the owner of your intellectual Property (IP). This could be done by filing for a combination of patents, copyrights, and trademarks (IP) with respect to your idea....