articles
Intellectual Property
Disclaimers – A credible way of amendment in patent claims and specification
15 三月 2024
One of the permissible ways of amendments to claims and/or specification is to incorporate suitable disclaimers during the patent prosecution and at the post grant stage. The article aims to bring down the perspectives of the use of disclaimers as a provision to amend claims and/or specification. It focusses on provisions available under Section 59 of the Patents Act, 1970 and a glimpse on such provisions in major jurisdictions such as US and EU that are of greater interest.
Regulatory
Decoding Fiduciaries and Processors: The DPDPA lens
04 三月 2024
The article dives deep into the understanding of certain key actors engaged in the processing of personal data – Data Fiduciaries and Data Processors. Observing that while Fiduciaries, by their nature, are expected to exercise decisional control over the purposes and means of processing, and Processors act on the former’s instructions, the article outline various complex situations where the roles blur.
International Trade & WTO
The WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference – Finding Order in times of chaos?
01 三月 2024
This article intends to provide an overview of some of the key issues for negotiation at MC 13 and the importance of these issues for WTO Members. It talks about Agreement on Investment Facilitation and Development, Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, Permanent Solution for Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes, WTO Dispute Settlement Reform, and Electronic Commerce.
Goods and Services Tax
Secondment or employment: Court’s observation opens new opportunities for tax risk mitigation in 2024
29 二月 2024
The article discusses the observation of the Supreme Court in Northern Operating Systems case, recent investigations on the issue, CBIC Instruction, interim orders passed by different High Courts on factual matrix of the cases, legal position under the GST law and the way forward. Elaborating on the test / factors to determine the employee-employer relationship, the article deliberates on application of said tests/factors on the Supreme Court decision, and the factual differentiation of case.
Intellectual Property
The Ibrutinib saga: Delhi High Court restrains generics from manufacturing and marketing Ibrutinib
28 二月 2024
The article discusses the recent decision of Single Judge of the Delhi High Court adjudicating a batch of suits filed by Pharmacyclics LLC and Johnson and Johnson Pvt. Ltd., pertaining to the infringement of Indian Patent 262968 against Hetero Labs, Natco Pharma, BDR Pharma, Alkem Labs and Shilpa Medicare for manufacturing and marketing Ibrutinib. The Court restrained the Defendants in all suits from manufacturing and marketing Ibrutinib, pending final disposal of the suits.
Intellectual Property
Keywords as trademarks not a source identifier – The legal tussle involving Google adwords
27 二月 2024
The article discusses the recent judgment of the Delhi High Court in the case of MakeMyTrip India Pvt. Ltd, Booking Netherlands & Booking India and Google LLC in which the court reiterated that use of trademark as key words of search engines displays of someone else advertisement, absent any confusion or unfair advantage, would not infringe the trademark.
Direct Tax
Will the recent ruling on Benami law dig up old deals?
19 二月 2024
The Article discusses the recent decision by the Delhi Appellate Tribunal in the case of Prism Scan Express Pvt Limited v. DCIT . The decision provided a wakeup call to all those who were under the belief that their old trades would not come under the glare of Benami Law, taking shelter of the decision of the Apex Court in the case of Ganpati Dealcom Pvt Ltd v. UoI which held that the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 shall not apply retrospectively.
Intellectual Property
Trademark tangle: Deepika Padukone’s beauty brand dances through the tunes of ‘use in a trademark sense’ v. ‘descriptive use’
15 二月 2024
A recent order passed by the Delhi High Court in favour of DPKA Universal Consumer Venture, rejecting the plea of interim injunction by Lotus Herbals against the former’s use of ‘Lotus Splash’, has garnered a lot of attention. The decision discusses the question of infringement, with specific reference to Section 30(2)(a) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. The article discusses this interim order and analyses the jurisprudence on Section 30(2)(a).
Intellectual Property
Personality Rights: Protection under IP laws
15 二月 2024
There are two discernible facets when a celebrity wants to protect their personality rights: first, the right to protect one’s image from being commercially exploited without permission by treating it as a tort of passing off and second, the right to privacy which entails one’s right to be left alone. Analysing jurisprudential development in US and UK, the article elaborately summarises many case law governing jurisprudence in India on IP laws.
Intellectual Property
‘Audi alteram partem’, yes, but not for Opponent in patent examination proceedings!
14 二月 2024
The Article discuss the Delhi High Court decision in the matter of Novartis AG v. Natco Pharma & Anr. where the Court held that clear distinction between the examination and the opposition process of patents is essential, and merging these distinct processes would render the entire system unwieldy and counterproductive. The High Court was deliberating on the question as to whether the opponent has a right to be heard..
Corporate
Adjudication of penalties by Registrar of Companies: Scope and its ambit
31 一月 2024
The ‘Registrar’ of Companies (‘RoC’) under the Companies Act, 2013 (‘Act’) is entrusted with the duty to register the companies in India and to discharge various functions under the Act, one of them being to adjudicate penalties in accordance with Section 454 of the Act
Corporate, Regulatory
Consent Managers under Digital Personal Data Protection Act – Bridging the gap between Data Principal and Data Fiduciary
30 一月 2024
The article discusses the measures introduced under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (‘DPDP Act’) to address challenges around management of data principals’ consent. The authors note that it is important for entities offering consent management services to ensure that their activities do not fall within the ambit of data processing.
International Trade & WTO
Trade remedial measures in India – 2023 year-end review
30 一月 2024
Trade remedy measures continue to remain a bulwark for the protection of the domestic industry from unfair imports. With the government’s increasing emphasis on the ‘Make in India’ objective and the Indian economy booming, trade remedy measures retain their importance as an instrument to balance the interests of domestic producers with that of users and importers.
Goods and Services Tax
Tax relief on Grants: Not to be taken for grant-ed!
29 一月 2024
The article notes that given the voluntary and unilateral nature of a grant, there exists ambiguity whether provision of a grant qualifies to be a taxable supply under the GST law, as to qualify as a supply it is essential that a good or service is provided for a consideration. The authors observe that it needs to be examined on case-to-case basis, whether the provision of the grant in a particular arrangement has its strings attached to the service provided and the consideration paid.
Intellectual Property
Are ‘trappings of a court’ enough to cloth an order of an authority under Section 2(14) of CPC?
24 一月 2024
The article discusses a recent Delhi HC decision holding that Letters Patent Appeal is allowed in trademark appeals and that a bar on such intra-court appeals as provided under Section 100A of Civil Procedure Code (CPC), 1908, do not apply to Letters Patent powers of High Courts with regard to trademark disputes as they are saved by virtue of Sections 4 and 104 of CPC.
Direct Tax
Interplay between foreign taxpayers’ global profits and PE profit attribution
22 一月 2024
The article discusses the issue of attribution of profits in case of losses at the global level, which has once again gathered spotlight as the Delhi High Court in Hyatt International Southwest Asia Limited has expressed its prima facie disagreement with the decision in Nokia Solutions and has referred the issue to a Larger Bench. Discussing Article 7 of the DTAA and Rule 10 of the Income Tax Rules, the authors state that the LB decision will have a major impact.
Intellectual Property
Geographical Indications – Madhya Pradesh High Court elucidates registered proprietor’s rights
16 一月 2024
In a recent decision dated 18 December 2023 , the Division Bench (Two-Judge Bench) of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, while adjudicating a petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, set aside the order dated 28 October 2021 passed by the Commercial District Court, Indore and held that a suit for infringement of Geographical Indication tags is maintainable by the Registered Proprietor of the GI tag, even if the Authorised User of the same GI tag is not impleaded as a party.
Intellectual Property
The vigour that Form-3 carries – Delhi High Court imposes costs for material suppression and misrepresentation of facts
16 一月 2024
The article elaborately discusses a recent decision of the Single Judge of the Delhi High Court, imposing costs of INR 5 lakh on the Plaintiff for having suppressed material facts by way of failing to report that corresponding foreign patents of the suit patent had been invalidated/refused in several foreign jurisdictions.
Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions / PE
Future of targeted and behavioral advertising in India – Analysing CJEU’s Judgment on Meta Platforms
15 一月 2024
The article analyses a recent decision of the CJEU and its implications in the background of the Indian data privacy laws. In this regard, it is pertinent to note that India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (‘ DPDP Act ’) will be notified soon and companies involved in processing of personal data for targeted advertising may need to revisit and revise their policies to comply with the law.