INSIGHTS

Introduction and Legislative Background The data protection law of India has been in development for many years and is currently at a crucial point. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 (DPDP Act) is a major piece of legislation that establishes a comprehensive framework for the protection of personal data. Nevertheless, there have been delays in the establishment of the enforcement agency of the Act, namely, the Data Protection Board of India (DPBI). The DPDP Act go

Introduction What is a brand? For a business, it is everything. A trademark is no longer just a logo or a name, but it is an identity of a business, it is a representation of the identity, trust, and customer loyalty and a substantial commercial value. Sometimes in this world, brand recognition often surpasses physical assets in terms of monetary value, and therefore, the fate of trademarks during insolvency has become a critical issue in the legal and business circles. The I

China’s revised Foreign Trade Law, effective March 1, 2026, marks a watershed moment by institutionalizing intellectual property rights as a cornerstone of trade governance through a dedicated Chapter V. This legislative pivot elevates IPR enforcement from administrative remedy to strategic trade instrument, recalibrating China’s global commercial posture amid escalating technology rivalries.​ Legislative Architecture The National People’s Congress Standing Committee adopted

Introduction Human beings, since time immemorial, had a desire to possess and own something which they consider as their own. This property can be either corporeal (tangible) or incorporeal (intangible). In R. C. Cooper v. Union of India [1] , the Supreme Court defined the property to mean “the highest right a man can have to anything being that right which one has to lands or tenements, goods or chattels which does not depends on another’s courtesy: it includes ownership, es

Receiving foreign investment is good for start-up and MSME or for any other type of entity. It is really like a booster for growing businesses. It doesn’t matter the funds have been received in initial stages or later stage of businesses. But this is the stage where many companies do not what is the compliances and what are the time lines. In India, foreign investments are regulated under FEMA, and the rules are quite clear. Still, in practice, many businesses miss timelines

What is EPR? Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) holds producers responsible for the whole lifecycle of their products, including disposal and recycling. It is a crucial step in preserving the environment and properly disposing of waste. EPR policies were developed in response to the need to address increasing waste and inefficiency in traditional disposal systems. They aim to create a circular economy , in which materials are reused and recycled rather than destroyed. Ind

Your Face Is Not Your Own Anymore: Deepfakes, Personality Rights and Why Indian IP Law is Falling behind. Somewhere in late 2023, a video started spreading on the Indian social media. Actress Rashmika Mandanna was in it, seemingly doing something she had not done, saying something she had not said. The video looked real. It sounded real. It was fake as well, it was a deepfake, a fake made by an artificial intelligence that had superimposed her face on another body with distur

Introduction The advent of digital advertising has brought trademark law into direct conflict with online market practices, particularly keyword bidding. The use of competitors’ trademarks by businesses to promote their own goods and services, albeit as invisible keywords, has often been debated as “infringement”, thereby causing unfair advantages and consumer confusion. Courts reveal a relatively permissive stance, as per established precedents, but the enactment of the Dark

Introduction The classical function of trademark law was to identify the source of each good or service in the market. Trademarks were meant to help consumers distinguish between similar ones. As per its definition, a trademark is a “ distinctive mark capable of graphical representation, which is used in commerce and is distinguishable from other marks in the market ” [1] . However, of late, trademarks have come to symbolise status, social affiliation, and personality [2] . T

Introduction Design rights and trademark protection overlap ever-so-briefly when the “design” of a commodity transcends its aesthetic nature and steps into the shoes of being a source-identifier. However, such evergreening of monopolistic rights has often been denied by Courts. Recently, in Godrej v. Reckitt [1] (“ the Harpic case ”), the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court upheld the tenets of fair competition in the market by refusing to protect the shape and structure of Harpic

Financial activity as principal business is when a company’s financial assets constitute more than 50 per cent of the total assets (netted off by intangible assets) and income from financial assets constitute more than 50 per cent of the gross income. Although the term principal business has not been defined in the Act, but in FAQ issued by the RBI it has been cleared for better understanding and desirous company has to fulfil both the criteria. The Reserve Bank has also def

Introduction For decades, India’s corporate governance framework has been shaped largely by the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 [1] , which placed a strong emphasis on procedural compliance backed by criminal sanctions for defaults. This approach aimed to ensure strict adherence to statutory requirements, but over time it also exposed several practical limitations. Many businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, found themselves navigating a complex web