Intellectual Property

Official trademark fees in India for filing a trademark, as well as fees related to aspects of trademark prosecution, such as opposition, renewal, expedited registration, etc., are provided in the First Schedule of the Trade Mark Rules, 2017. If the fees are not paid or are insufficient, then the document or form provided in connection with a particular process will be deemed not to have been filed. ......

Cinema is a way of life in India, and the one film that epitomizes this national obsession is Sholay. Released nearly half a century ago, Sholay is a genre-defining film, whose appeal transcends all boundaries of geography, language, ideology, and class, and that established standards for what we now call “masala” blockbusters. ......

You have a new and innovative solution (for example, a product or a method) that solves a problem. You want to apply for a patent covering that solution. To discuss the patent application, you set up an appointment with a drafting patent attorney. ......

If a patent application discloses any nucleotide or amino acid sequences, the description of the invention must contain a ‘sequence listing’. A sequence listing is a list of biological sequences using defined terms for certain features. This includes descriptive information about each sequence, which is known as annotations. ......

Trademarks in India are governed by the Trade Marks Act, 1999 (“Act”) and Trademark Rules, 2017. The Act provides the procedure for the registration of any mark capable of being represented graphically as a word, device, label, numerals, or combination of colours, shape or sound, and capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one person from another. In other words, a trademark is a source identifier of businesses, products and services. ......

The forum for adjudicating commercial suits in India is governed by the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 (“CCA”), where cases are heard by courts at different levels depending on the valuation of the suits. Lesser-valued cases are heard by courts lower in the judicial hierarchy and fall outside the direct scrutiny of the CCA, thus being subject to relatively lower regulation. ......

The timelines for completing various tasks or submitting various documents in the patent prosecution process differ depending on which stage a patent application is at. The various timelines involved in the grant of an Indian patent. ......

Patents help innovators shield their ideas from being copied by competitors. Having a patent separates you from the crowd and puts you one step ahead of others. But patents are not just about standing out in a crowd. They help beat competitors, earn royalty through licensing, bring others to trial, earn returns, create a defensive mechanism, and much more. There is a whole world of benefits that patents open up. ......

Tissue or organ replacement is a medical phenomenon that has saved human lives over the decades. With 3D bioprinting, where functional living human tissues and organs can be fabricated using 3D printing technology, the field has charted a new path, acquired more relevance, and provokes many questions, ethical, medical, legal and beyond. ......