Intellectual Property

Filing for a trademark and having it examined by the Trade Marks Office is only the first step in the journey towards obtaining a registered trademark. Under Indian Trademark law, once a trademark applied for has been examined for objections pertaining to distinctiveness or similarity with earlier cited marks, the trademark application is advertised in the Trademarks Journal. ......

It is sometimes presumed that the patent application process concludes with the grant of a patent, after it has been successfully prosecuted. Although prosecution examines an application for patentability, its true test arguably comes during the opposition process. ......

Much emphasis is placed in patent law on the importance of filing for protection as early as possible in the inventive process, in order to obtain necessary rights and benefits. But these applications are by no means set in stone. There is room to amend patent applications, and in India, amendments can be done both while an application is pending, and after a patent has been granted, subject to appropriate permissions from the Controller. ......

Driving – or the controlled operation and movement of a vehicle - is not an overwhelming task for humans. But what goes into the mechanics of driving is a complex operation of vehicle controls while constantly monitoring surroundings. This is in fact a mammoth task and machines have been limited to driver-assisted roles for decades. ......

Patent prosecution is the centerpiece of the process of obtaining a patent. The proceedings during prosecution serve as important legal guidance on the patentability of the invention, and successful prosecution is key to ensuring that patent rights are protected. ......

Patents, like other forms of intellectual property, are jurisdiction specific. In other words, you obtain protection only in those jurisdictions where you have sought protection. The application process is long, and can stretch for months, or even years on end. While the end result, if successful, can be immensely satisfying and rewarding, the prospect of having to repeat this process in other countries can be quite overwhelming. ......

Under Indian trade mark law, the term “well-known trademark” refers to a mark which has become so well-known to a substantial segment of the public through its extensive and continuous use such that its use in relation to any other goods or services by another party may be taken as indicating a connection between the two parties. ......

The principle of “unity of invention” is near universal to patent law and entails that a single patent application must relate to a single invention or to a group of linked inventions having a ‘single inventive concept’. If the application lacks unity of invention, the applicant may split the original application, and file a “divisional application” seeking protection for the (additional) plurality of inventions. ......

Under Indian trademark law, any person claiming to be the proprietor of a trademark may apply to register the trademark. The trademark may either be in use or proposed to be used. Generally, the person who uses or controls both the use of the trademark and the nature and quality of the goods or services to which it is affixed, is considered the owner of the trademark. ......