INSIGHTS

Introduction : In India, most trademark disputes are primarily determined through adjudication. The Application is advertised through the journal; the notice of opposition may be filed by the proprietor of an earlier mark, and the Registrar decides whether registration of the new mark is likely to confuse the public or not. The process is very slow, expensive and, because confusion is assessed on impression, it is uncertain. A coexistence agreement offers an alternative, a pr

Introduction : The Delhi High Court, in a case of ECG Easy Connect Logistics Pvt Ltd vs Commissioner of Customs Airport (2024), lowered the penalties on a courier agent for his involvement in bringing in counterfeit iPhones worth millions of rupees under the ‘doctrine of proportionality', and forfeiture was reduced by 50%, with the license forfeiture period changed from a permanent ban to two years. The Court considered the courier a ‘peripheral actor’, even while holding him

Introduction : Most companies build their brand mark without even thinking about defending it from others. Most companies maintain records such as sales, advertising, and distribution records only for accountancy and operational purposes, hardly seeing that the brand they have built from scratch may need to be proved if challenged. The alarm rings once a cease-and-desist notice, rectification petition, or any infringement or passing-off claim knocks on the door, and the propr

Introduction : Drug names are rarely invented from nothing. A company that sells a pantoprazole tablet, a rabeprazole tablet and an etoricoxib tablet will often attach one recognizable syllable to each generic name, so that doctors and patients come to read the syllable as a signature. After a few decades, the syllable does more work than any single product name. Indian trade mark law calls the resulting group a ‘family of marks’, and its enforcement keeps returning to the De

Introduction : Imagine that foreign skincare company that set up shop in India. A distributor is hired, the first container is loaded in the boat, and the sales are rolling. But three years down the road, the bond breaks and the company is forced to replace the distributor. Too late-its brand name appears on the Indian trademarks register as belonging to the distributor. This is not some distant fairy tale. It’s quite common enough that just about every trademark attorney has

Introduction : Have you ever wondered what you would do if someone searching for your brand on Google ended up on your competitor's website? How would you react to it ? And it is actually happening. Hindware, a well-known manufacturer of sanitaryware and bathroom fittings, discovered that users searching for its brand name were being redirected to competitors through Google advertisements. But the question before all of us is how would it really happen? When the brand wants G

Introduction : The trademark disputes, where a suit can be filed, is often as important as the claim itself. The jurisdiction of courts in trademark disputes has become an increasingly important procedural question in Indian intellectual property litigation with time. While Section 134 of the Trade Act, 1999, specifically provides for suits concerning infringement of registered trademarks and passing off to be instituted before a District Court having jurisdiction, the provis

Introduction : There's a press release in the consumer brand launch world these days, too. There's a launch when the same unboxing video appears from a dozen influencers at the same time in the morning, the product sells out in the evening, and the campaign hashtag is trending at night. Speed is the essence of influencer marketing for business. Legally speaking, the goodwill accrues faster than the paperwork: before anyone even asks if the name's available, the logo is viewed

Introduction : A consumer standing before a supermarket shelf may not always read the brand name before recognising a product. Sometimes, the colour of the packaging, the shape of the bottle, the arrangement of images, or even the overall visual appearance is enough to trigger recognition. This raises an important question for trademark law. This is the essence of "trade dress," and it is precisely what was at stake in the recent, closely watched dispute between Emami Limited

Introduction : A trade mark certificate can be easily framed and put up on the office wall. Defending it, on the other hand, is a more involved process. Section 28 of the Trademarks Act, 1999 grants the registered proprietor with an exclusive right to use the mark for the goods/service covered by the registration, but the same statute puts a rider on that right. Marks left idle for too long can be removed at the instance of any person aggrieved. Since 2021, when the Intellect

Introduction : In a judgment delivered on 22 January 2026, in the case of Gloster Limited v. Gloster Cables Limited & Ors., a bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan allowed cross-appeals against an order of the NCLT. The ground was lack of jurisdiction to decide the disputes under Section 60(5)(c) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The most interesting point of this decision is the fact that even a judicial acknowledgement of the "clean slate" concept

Introduction : The visual identity of a mobile or web application, its colour palette , icon set , layout grid , navigation gestures, and the whole sensory impression it creates has slowly become as commercially valuable as any word mark or logo. Fintech, ride-hailing, food-delivery , and social media applications increasingly lean on a polished, steady ‘look and feel’ as a brand asset that gets crafted over years of design investment. Still, the design of a screen sits a bit

Introduction : Sustainable fashion in India has moved beyond fabric and production processes. Brands are increasingly investing in distinctive eco-friendly packaging, kraft paper boxes, earthy colour palettes, minimalist labelling with green motifs, reusable cloth bags, as visual identifiers that signal environmental commitment to consumers. This “green branding” has become a competitive asset, distinguishing eco-conscious labels in a crowded marketplace. But as this packagin

Introduction : Generative design software can generate scores of packaging ideas within minutes. A brand manager can ask for “a premium glucose-biscuit pack in warm yellow with child illustration” and get beautifully designed packages before lunchtime. However, these models are trained on extensive databases of images, including images of actual products placed on actual store shelves. Hence, an output generated by these models may unconsciously incorporate the very colour sc

Introduction : Naming a brand has entered an era in which one types a product description into a generative algorithm and sees an instantly produced list of pithy, available-sounding names to choose from as the first step in the launch process. What one types into the algorithm and the list it produces have little bearing on the ability of the selected name to withstand claims of trademark infringement: whether the name one chose appears among hundreds of unregistered marks u

Introduction : In a corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of Gloster Industries Limited (Gloster Limited v. Gloster Cables Limited & Ors), the Supreme Court on January 22, 2026 quashed the finding of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that the trademark GLOSTER belonged to the corporate debtor. The Court clarified that the residuary jurisdiction of the NCLT under Section 60(5) of IBC is not intended to conclusively resolve a dispute between two or more rival pr

Introduction : This conflict is part of the conflict over the conflicting marks “MARQ” and “MARC” for electrical/electronic goods. The case was heard from the Trial Court, the Delhi High Court up to the Supreme Court. The main case before the Delhi High Court is related to the order dated 27th October 2018 passed by Additional District Judge (Patiala House Courts), New Delhi. Justice Tejas Karia heard and decided the appeal in the case of FAO-IPD 46/2021 on 10th April 2026. T

Introduction : Previously, a trademark mainly served as a mark that recognized the source of goods or services. In the digital economy today, however, a successful trademark can have a commercial identity that goes beyond the original product for which the trademark was created. An automobile manufacturer can now start engaging in crypto-finance, a fashion brand can introduce cosmetics, and a tech company may offer its customers programs about entertainment, education, and on

Introduction : The Supreme Court of India, in a recent public advisory notice, cautioned people against one fraudulent website that was allegedly impersonating its official online portal and being used for targeted phishing. Lately, these kinds of scams have become a lot more common. In today’s age of the Internet, almost every business wants to increase its online presence in order to expand its sales and increase their goodwill. These scams, where the scammers create a fake

Introduction : A domain name begins as a technical address, however, with the growth of online commerce, its legal and commercial function has expanded. A domain name may now identify the enterprise operating a website, distinguish its goods or services and communicate the goodwill associated with that business. This change explains why Indian courts have treated domain names as capable of receiving trademark protection. The relevant question is not whether a domain name was